THIS  BOOK  IS   NO.. 
OF  AN   EDITION   OF  25O   COPIES 
AND   IS   PRESENTED  TO 


BY  THE  WISTAR  INSTITUT    OF 

ANATOMY  AND  BIOLOGY 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


THE  RECIPIENT  OF  THIS  BOOK  IS  RE- 
QUESTED TO  REGARD  ITS  CONTENTS. 
FOR  THE  PRESENT.  AS  CONFIDENTIAL. 


EXCHANGE 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

OF 

ISAAC  JONES  WISTAR 

0 
1827-1905 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES 


VOLUME  II 


PRINTED  BY 

THE  WISTAR  INSTITUTE  OF  ANATOMY  AND  BIOLOGY 

PHILADELPHIA 
1814 


COPYRIGHT,  1914 
BT  THI  WISTAR  INSTITUTE  or  ANATOMY  AND  BIOLOGY 


EXCHANGE 


CONTENTS 
Volume  II.    1858-1892 


Chapter 
I    A  Western  Trip.    Outbreak  of  the  War  

Page 
1 

II    The  Disastrous  Battle  of  Ball's  Bluff  

21 

Ill    Skirmishes  and  The  Battle  of  Antietam  

38 

IV    Experiences  of  a  Brigade  Commander    

64 

V    At  West  Point,  Va.,  and  Bermuda  Hundred  

91 

VI    The  Return  to  Civil  Life  and  Business  

.  .  .    .                  115 

VII    Incidents  and  Reflections  in  Conclusion  

...       .        136 

Appendix  .  . 

.  161 

iii 


313353 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Colonel  Isaac  J.  Wistar,  Age  35,  1863 Frontispiece 

The  Cemetery  at  Ball's  Bluff  where  Colonel  Baker  was  killed 37 

General  Wistar's  Headquarters,  West  Point,  Va. ,  July  4,  1863 78 

The  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology 160 


CHAPTER  I 

A  WESTERN  TRIP.      OUTBREAK  OF  THE  WAR 

As  a  trip  to  the  new  El  Dorado  seemed  easily  within  the  com- 
pass of  a  summer's  journey,  for  the  exigencies  of  which  I  felt  at  no 
loss  to  prepare,  I  resolved  to  go,  and  bearing  in  mind  the  early 
wants  in  the  mining  region  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  could  think  of 
nothing  better  to  take  with  me  than  such  simple  machinery  as 
is  the  first  needed  under  such  circumstances.  I  therefore  repaired 
to  Salem,  Ohio,  where  I  contracted  for  some  simple-planned  direct 
action  portable  steam  engines,  and  a  sawmill  or  two,  adapted 
either  for  steam  or  water  power. 

When  these  were  completed  I  shipped  them  to  Chicago,  and 
thence  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  via  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  R.  R., 
just  opened  for  traffic.  At  St.  Joe  and  vicinity  I  purchased  wagons 
and  ox  teams,  and  after  some  delay  and  difficulty  in  getting  the 
freight  delivered,  inventoried  and  loaded,  at  last  got  away  and 
after  crossing  the  river  by  ferry  and  doubling  teams  through  the 
wide  and  muddy  Missouri  bottoms,  launched  forth  upon  the 
familiar  plains.  The  prairie  roads,  though  of  course  better  marked 
and  more  traveled,  were  very  much  as  we  had  found  them  ten 
years  before,  the  wagon  trail  leading  over  a  succession  of  undula- 
tions very  slippery  and  difficult  when  it  rained,  as  it  usually  did 
at  that  season,  and  nearly  always  separated  by  small  runlets, 
degenerated  at  the  crossings  into  such  unspeakable  mud-holes  as 
must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  This  time  I  had  undertaken  to 
haul  heavy  freight,  instead  of  mere  food  and  traveler's  baggage, 
but  on  the  other  hand  had  known  pretty  well  from  former  experi- 
ence how  to  equip  for  it.  Though  3000  to  4000  pounds  was  the 
usual  weight  in  the  wagons,  we  had  six  to  eight  yoke  of  good  cattle 
in  each  team,  well-selected  teamsters  and  a  portable  forge,  and 

i 


2  A   WESTERN   TRIP 

mechanics  always  at  hand  to  repair  damages.  There  was  now  no 
trouble  from  Indians,  and  besides  the  large  emigrant  trains,  hun- 
dreds of  single  wagons  with  'Pike's  Peak  or  bust,'  or  some  similar 
legend  displayed  on  the  covers,  lined  pretty  much  the  entire  600 
miles  of  road.  From  some  point  on  the  South  Platte  I  rode  ahead 
alone  in  perfect  security,  turning  in  with  some  emigrant  train 
every  night,  and  made  my  solitary  bivouac  on  the  flats  of  Cherry 
Creek  not  far  from  where  the  fine  cut  stone  Union  Depot  of 
Denver  now  stands. 

The  more  vigorous  of  the  emigrants  were  scattering  out  into 
the  mountains  with  their  teams;  and  the  present  site  of  the  city,  or 
at  least  the  lower  part  of  it  down  on  the  flats,  contained  a  residuum 
of  the  unfortunate,  the  sick,  idle  and  lazy,  many  of  whom  were 
anxious  to  sell  their  cattle  at  any  price  to  get  money  enough  for  a 
return  passage  by  the  stage-line,  recently  established.  I  soon 
saw  that  I  had  brought  machinery  to  that  population  about  a 
year  too  soon.  No  doubt  there  would  be  demand  enough  in  time, 
but  affairs  absolutely  required  my  presence  in  Philadelphia,  the 
coming  winter  and  I  concluded  to  sell  for  what  I  could  get,  no 
matter  at  what  loss,  and  use  the  proceeds  as  well  as  some  bank 
drafts  which  I  had  brought  with  me,  to  purchase  emigrant  cattle. 
This  happy  thought  repaid  all  my  losses  and  ultimately  yielded 
large  profit.  I  bought  the  cattle  for  from  $10  to  $15  a  yoke, 
choosing  those  least  run  down,  as  far  as  practicable,  and  retaining 
one  wagon,  hired  returning  adventurers  at  low  wages,  and  started 
back  driving  very  slowly  and  carefully,  selecting  each  camping- 
ground,  frequently  several  days  in  advance.  On  this  trip  we  saw 
no  buffalo,  though  passing  over  ground  which  ten  years  previously 
had  been  darkened  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  with  their  far- 
spreading  masses.  Now,  not  even  a  single  one  came  in  sight  of  the 
road.  The  deer  and  elk  hunting  in  the  Platte  bluffs,  was  however 
about  as  good  as  in  1849,  and  these  animals  with  antelope,  and 
nearer  the  settlements,  turkey  and  grouse,  kept  the  camp  pretty 
well  supplied  with  meat.  On  many  days  the  cattle  were  not 
moved  more  than  a  mile  or  two,  and  as  much  time  was  afforded 
for  hunting  and  fishing  as  though  it  was  merely  a  sporting  trip. 

At  the  crossing  of  one  of  the  Blues,  we  met  a  drove  of  brood 


A  SPIRITED   HORSE   FIGHT  3 

mares  and  well-bred  cows  on  their  long  road  to  California,  and  our 
mutual  surprise  may  be  imagined  when  I  recognized  in  the  owner 
one  Graves,  a  client  of  mine  in  California,  whose  unfinished 
affairs  I  had,  with  his  consent,  left  in  the  hands  of  my  friends  Irving 
and  Pate.  Leaving  our  several  droves  to  go  on  their  respective 
ways,  he  and  I  at  once  bivouacked,  and  had  a  long  and  interesting 
discussion  respecting  his  law  interests  in  California  as  well  as  on  the 
new  state  of  affairs  in  which  each  had  found  the  other. 

Striking  the  river  where  the  town  of  Atchison  had  not  long 
since  been  started,  we  turned  up  the  Missouri,  which  was  crossed 
at  St.  Joe,  and  passing  leisurely  through  the  northern  tier  of  Mis- 
souri counties,  entered  Iowa  not  far  from  the  middle  of  its  southern 
boundary-line  and  laid  our  course  due  east  to  strike  the  settle- 
ments which  then  had  their  western  limit  at  and  near  the  village 
of  Bloomfield.  In  crossing  one  of  the  branches  of  Grand  River,  in 
Missouri,  coming  in  from  a  hunting-trip  a  day  or  two  in  rear  of  the 
drove,  I  noticed  a  singular  phenomenon.  The  stream  was  about 
twenty  yards  wide,  flowing  through  a  finely  timbered  bottom,  the 
water  very  low  and  muddy,  and  large  numbers  of  some  predaceous 
fish — probably  some  kind  of  pike — were  darting  in  every  direc- 
tion, showing  their  large  black  dorsal  fins  above  the  surface. 
Unfortunately  I  had  no  means  with  me  of  catching  any,  but  the 
question  did  not  fail  to  occur,  if  pike  existed  in  such  great  numbers, 
how  much  vaster  must  be  the  multitudes  on  which  they  fed?  I 
have  never  been  able  to  get  any  solution  of  the  mystery. 

In  Iowa,  some  miles  before  arriving  at  the  settlements,  I  was 
witness  of  a  curious  and  entertaining  horse-fight.  Among  our 
herding  horses  was  a  small  but  fiery  and  spirited  stallion  from  the 
Lipan  Indians,  much  affected  for  my  own  riding.  He  was  not 
over  14  hands,  but  was  fat  and  saucy  and  had  spirit  enough  for  a 
herd.  Having  turned  him  out  late  one  evening,  he  failed  to  find 
our  manada,  which  was  driven  in  without  him  in  the  morning,  and 
I  started  out  to  hunt  him.  I  had  walked  several  miles,  having 
got  on  numerous  wrong  trails,  through  a  fine  undulating  country, 
when  I  heard  some  peculiar  noises  over  the  top  of  the  next  hill. 
Creeping  carefully  up,  I  looked  over  the  summit  and  saw  perhaps 
fifteen  or  twenty  mares  and  geldings  evidently  belonging  to  the  set- 


A    WESTERN   TRIP 

tlements  now  not  very  distant,  standing  in  a  circle  facing  outwards. 
Within  the  circle,  ranged  about  my  Lipan  pony  in  a  terrible  rage, 
attacking  first  at  one  and  then  at  another  point,  and  occasionally 
getting  in  his  heels  with  a  resounding  thwack  that  might  be 
heard  for  a  mile.  Bites,  kicks  and  squeals  flew  around  at  large, 
but  though  surrounded  by  such  superior  force,  the  Lipan  was  too 
quick  for  them,  and  made  his  heels  count  every  tune,  scarcely 
getting  a  scratch  in  return.  As  my  side  was  not  suffering  any 
damage,  I  watched  this  unfair  combat  for  a  long  time,  enjoying  the 
little  fellow's  game  and  prowess  but  finally  put  in  an  appearance,  at 
which  the  strangers  galloped  off,  while  the  pony,  though  usually 
wild  and  hard  to  catch,  came  trotting  up  with  triumphant  neighs, 
showing  plainly  enough  notwithstanding  his  gallant  and  successful 
defence,  how  glad  he  was  to  find  an  admiring  and  sympathizing 
friend. 

I  spent  the  remainder  of  the  summer  and  fall  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bloomfield,  east  of  which  place  the  country  was  considerably 
obstructed  by  settlers  and  fences.  I  had  there  a  terrible  attack 
of  ague  from  which  I  recovered  in  due  time  by  the  aid  of  such 
quack  medicines  as  could  be  obtained,  there  being  no  doctor  nor 
quinine  to  be  had.  When  not  enjoying  a  fever  or  a  shake,  I 
occupied  myself  in  selling  fat  cattle  to  the  Chicago  drovers  who 
heard  of  me  at  Burlington,  and  in  scouring  the  settled  districts 
to  purchase  small  bunches  of  cattle  and  single  steers  from  the 
fanners.  This  business  required  the  handling  of  considerable  sums 
of  money,  which,  as  there  were  no  banks,  I  was  obliged  to  carry 
on  my  person.  I  soon  became  known  about  the  country,  as  well 
as  this  habit  of  possessing  cash,  and  this  notoriety  led  to  what  I 
have  always  thought  a  deliberate  and  well  planned  but  badly 
executed  attempt  at  robbery.  It  was  already  dark  one  evening 
when,  after  a  forty-mile  ride,  I  reached  a  cross-roads  rejoicing  in 
the  name  of  Pulaski,  in  the  middle  of  a  boundless  prairie.  It 
boasted  of  only  one  house,  a  small  log  cabin  with  a  loft  over  and  a 
small  kitchen  annexed,  and  a  log  stable  adjacent,  with  door  and 
padlock.  I  locked  up  my  horse,  offered  the  key  to  the  landlord, 
but  on  his  invitation  retained  it,  and  carrying  with  me  a  valuable 
silver-mounted  Mexican  saddle,  entered  the  house,  where  I  found 


AN    ATTEMPT   AT   BOBBERY  5 

two  foot-travelers  of  not  very  prepossessing  appearance,  who  were 
apparently  acquainted  with  the  landlord  and  pretended  to  be 
traveling  in  search  of  land,  to  locate.  The  cabin  consisted  of  one 
low  room  about  twelve  by  eighteen  feet,  with  a  ladder  in  one 
corner,  by  which  the  loft  was  entered  through  a  small  square  hole 
in  one  corner  of  the  planked  ceiling.  In  the  other  three  corners  of 
the  loft,  which  was  about  three  feet  high  at  the  eaves  and  not 
over  seven  at  the  ridge,  were  as  many  beds,  made  by  nailing  barrel 
staves  on  poles  suitably  arranged.  I  placed  my  saddle  and 
blankets  on  the  one  nearest  the  trap-door,  and  proceeded  to  eat 
supper  and  smoke  a  pipe,  after  which  I  went  up  the  ladder  to  bed, 
the  other  two  corners  being  already  occupied  by  the  strangers, 
while  the  landlord  and  his  wife  slept  down  stairs.  My  money 
which  was  in  large  rolls  of  wildcat  bank-bills  of  the  country,  being 
mostly  stored  about  my  coat  and  trousers,  I  rolled  up  those  gar- 
ments and  placed  them  under  my  head  after  spreading  my  blankets 
and  blowing  out  the  light,  carefully  adjusting  my  belt  with  knife 
and  large  Colt's  revolver,  ready  at  hand. 

As  the  only  opening  in  the  loft  besides  the  trap  in  the  floor  was 
a  small  hole  cut  in  the  gable,  not  over  sixteen  inches  square,  the 
place  was  so  dark  that  literally  one  could  not  see  one's  hand  or 
any  other  object.  Knowing  there  was  no  other  house  within  many 
miles,  and  not  liking  the  looks  of  the  strangers,  nor  knowing  how 
they  were  armed,  I  felt  somewhat  nervous  respecting  the  unusually 
large  quantity  of  money  which  happened  to  be  then  in  my  posses- 
sion, and  slept  with  one  eye  open.  It  was  not  very  long  till  I  was 
waked  from  a  light  doze  by  hearing  one  of  the  strangers  rise  and 
fumble  surreptitiously  about  his  bed,  as  though  cautiously  put- 
ting on  some  clothes.  Cocking  my  pistol  quietly  under  the  blanket 
I  crowded  silently  as  possible  against  the  wall  under  the  eaves,  so 
as  to  avoid  being  disabled  by  a  single  blow,  and  waited.  Pres- 
ently I  could  hear  but  not  see,  my  friend  walk  cautiously  over  the 
floor  to  my  vicinity,  whence  after  standing  a  few  minutes,  he 
silently  retired  again  to  his  own  corner,  perhaps  discouraged  by 
my  absolute  silence  while  listening  so  intently.  Wishing  to  bring 
the  adventure  to  an  end  of  some  sort,  I  therefore  used  all  my 
ingenuity  to  counterfeit  heavy  breathing,  in  fact  almost  a  snore, 


A   WESTERN   TRIP 

and  this,  as  I  expected,  soon  encouraged  my  vis  a  vis  to  another 
effort.  After  some  low  whispering,  I  again  heard  him  approach 
with  great  caution,  and  redoubled  my  efforts  at  plausible  snoring, 
for  I  had  so  arranged  myself  that  his  first  blow  would  fall  upon  the 
empty  bed,  when  I  intended  to  rush  on  him,  and  the  instant  I 
could  feel  him  with  one  hand,  kill  him  with  the  other.  Either  my 
counterfeit  snoring  was  so  bad,  or  his  caution  was  so  great,  that 
he  remained  for  some  minutes  standing  close  to  me  in  perfect 
silence,  and  as  I  found  it  difficult  to  snore  and  listen  simultane- 
ously, I  resolved  to  have  an  end  of  the  affair.  Keeping  him  covered 
therefore,  as  nearly  as  I  could  judge  in  the  darkness,  I  said,  "I 
have  got  you  covered  and  if  you  budge  you  are  a  dead  man.  What 
do  you  want?"  "I  want  to  go  down  stairs."  "Well  then,  go, 
right  off.  Don't  stop  a  minute  or  I'll  fire."  When  he  had  gone  I 
drove  the  other  one  out,  piled  both  their  beds  over  the  trap,  and 
listened  at  the  outside  opening  for  any  signs  of  an  attack  on  my 
horse.  As  none  came,  and  both  fellows  had  left  the  house,  I 
placed  my  bed  also  over  the  trap,  fixed  a  tell-tale  in  the  window 
opening,  and  being  very  tired,  proceeded  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  the 
just. 

About  daybreak  the  landlord  called  me,  and  complained  he  had 
been  robbed.  Fully  supposing  he  was  in  league  with  the  others, 
I  gave  him  a  short  answer,  and  told  him  I  was  getting  ready  to 
settle  with  him  and  wanted  my  breakfast  right  away.  However 
with  the  aid  of  his  wife,  he  soon  satisfied  me  that  the  two  men  were 
entire  strangers  to  him,  though  they  had  described  and  spoken 
about  me  before  my  arrival,  and  he  supposed  we  belonged  together. 
It  seemed  that  after  failing  in  their  attempt,  they  had  stolen  the 
poor  woman's  watch  and  a  small  sum  that  was  on  the  shelf  down 
stairs,  and  cleared  out.  They  had — as  appeared  by  their  tracks — 
examined  the  stable  and  concluded  not  to  break  it,  which  was  well 
for  them,  as  it  was  commanded  from  my  window.  A  few  yards 
farther  they  had  sat  down  and  put  on  their  boots  and  then  turned 
into  the  prairie,  where  they  had  very  probably  concealed  their 
horses,  and  where  as  soon  as  the  sun  rose  high  enough  to  dry  the 
dew,  their  track  was  lost  among  the  hundreds  of  cattle-trails 
parting  the  high  grass  in  every  direction.  As  after  that  it  was 


BELLING  CATTLE   IN  CHICAGO  7 

impossible  to  follow  their  trail,  I  was  obliged  to  abandon  my  late 
landlord  to  his  own  devices,  promising,  however,  to  make  the  facts 
known,  as  I  should  reach  other  settlements  in  the  course  of  my 
travels,  which  I  faithfully  did,  but  never  heard  any  more  of  the 
affair. 

As  soon  as  the  first  severe  frost  of  autumn  struck  and  killed  the 
prairie  grass,  having  got  the  cattle  gathered  well  in  hand,  they 
were  rushed  down  about  a  hundred  miles  to  Burlington,  in  four 
parcels,  fording  the  Des  Moines  River  which  was  low,  without 
difficulty.  At  Burlington  I  was  obliged  to  hire  pasture  on  the 
meadows  of  cultivated  grasses  which  there  abounded,  and  which 
are  not  injured  immediately  by  frost,  like  the  natural  grass  of  the 
prairie.  The  cattle  had  to  be  railed  from  Burlington  to  Chicago 
in  lots,  as  cattle-cars  could  be  procured  and  made  up  into  trains, 
the  first  lots  being  consigned  to  persons  in  Chicago  whom  I  only 
knew  by  name.  As  I  dared  not  leave  Burlington  till  they  were  all 
at  or  fairly  on  the  road  to  Chicago,  the  process  of  shipping,  or 
rather  of  getting  cars,  involved  delay  and  exasperation  which  had 
almost  reached  the  limit  of  endurance,  when  at  last  I  got  away 
with  the  last  lot  about  midnight,  one  rainy  and  stormy  night. 
At  Chicago  I  found  all  the  cattle  safe  at  the  old  stock-yards  of 
that  period,  which  I  have  in  more  recent  years  vainly  tried  to 
locate,  even  with  the  aid  of  some  of  the  oldest  residents.  To  the 
best  of  my  belief,  they  were  not  far  from  West  Madison  Street, 
but  a  short  distance  west  of  the  river,  a  place  which  is  now  the 
heart  of  the  city,  and  I  today  possess  both  stores  and  populous 
flats  of  my  own,  at  least  two  miles  farther  west,  these  localities 
being  at  that  tune  open  prairie.  As  the  lot  of  cattle  was  large 
and  important  for  that  day,  all  the  brokers,  dealers,  packers  and 
loafers  of  the  place  had  been  busying  themselves  over  it,  the  result 
of  which  was,  I  had  immediate  offers  with  healthy  competition, 
and  though  general  prices  were  low,  and  the  cattle  only  grass  fed, 
including  a  number  that  had  resisted  all  attempts  to  ameliorate 
their  condition  and  would  require  stall  feeding,  I  closed  out  the 
last  of  the  lot  within  three  days,  at  prices  which  much  more  than 
doubled— I  am  not  sure  but  they  trebled — my  investment,  with 
all  attendant  expenses.  Had  I  driven  the  cattle  to  the  lower  part 


8  A   WESTERN   TRIP 

of  Illinois,  bought  standing  corn  and  fed  them  through  the  winter, 
shipping  to  New  York  in  the  spring,  I  should  have  again  doubled 
the  profits.  The  method  of  doing  this  at  that  time,  was  to  pur- 
chase a  few  hundred  acres  of  standing  corn — which  few  in  those 
parts  then  thought  of  husking  for  market — divide  it  by  cross 
fences  into  suitable  enclosures  and  admit  the  cattle  to  them 
successively,  at  the  same  time  purchasing  store  hogs  to  fatten  on 
their  waste  and  leavings. 

Western  money  at  that  time  consisted  of  the  torn,  disfigured 
and  greasy  notes  of  an  infinite  number  of  'Wildcat'  banks,  many 
of  them  insolvent,  and  none  negotiable  at  any  distance  from  the 
place  of  issue,  which  often  appeared  on  no  map.  I  therefore  con- 
sidered it  prudent  to  buy  exchange  on  New  York,  which  to  the  best 
of  my  recollection,  cost  five  per  cent.  And  yet  the  West  contains 
today  a  new  generation  of  idiots  who  wish  to  abolish  the  existing 
National  Bank  system  which  has,  at  no  appreciable  expense  to  the 
public,  supplied  a  perfectly  safe  currency  that  has  invariably  stood 
at  par  from  one  ocean  to  the  other!  Of  what  is  not  ignorance  and 
folly  capable  in  public  affairs,  of  which  according  to  our  political 
institutions  and  theories  one  man  is  as  good  a  judge  as  another,  or,  as 
the  Irish  enthusiast  for  equality  remarked, '  a  d— d  sight  better.' 

During  the  journey  from  Chicago  to  Philadelphia  which  then 
occupied  several  days,  the  newspapers  were  filled  with  accounts  of 
the  attack  by  the  mischievous  lunatic,  John  Brown,  on  the  State 
of  Virginia  to  free  her  negroes  forcibly  from  slavery.  That  fanat- 
ical enthusiast  had  formed  so  adequate  a  conception  of  the  magni- 
tude of  his  enterprise,  that  he  undertook  it  with  a  force  of  about 
twenty  men,  of  whom  a  third  were  negroes;  his  military  stores  con- 
sisting of  a  lot  of  Connecticut-made  pikes  to  arm  the  expected 
negro  recruits,  of  whom,  however,  not  one  came  to  his  aid.  This 
futile  attempt  to  inaugurate,  with  the  instigation  and  backing  of 
many  persons  in  New  England  otherwise  intelligent,  a  servile 
insurrection  with  its  attendant  horrors,  while  it  may  have  served 
to  demonstrate  the  absurd  ideas  of  southern  social  affairs  enter- 
tained hi  remote  northern  communities,  ended  in  nothing  except 
the  execution  of  Brown,  and  as  many  of  his  followers  as  could  be 
caught  by  due  process  of  Virginia  law.  Except  so  far  as  it  tended 


COLONEL   BAKER   ELECTED    SENATOR  9 

to  impair  the  fraternal  relations  of  the  States,  it  did  not  perhaps 
even  hasten  the  impending  civil  war,  though  it  has  made  Brown — 
like  Herostratus — notorious  in  biographical  dictionaries,  a  punish- 
ment by  no  means  undeserved. 

After  a  long  and  hotly  contested  canvass  in  Oregon,  my  old 
friend  and  partner,  Colonel  Baker,  was  elected  U.  S.  Senator  from 
that  State,  and  took  his  seat  in  March,  1861.  Notwithstanding 
the  divergence  of  our  political  views,  I  had  gratified  my  personal 
feelings  by  writing  of  him  extensively  in  eastern  journals,  and  he 
came  by  no  means  as  a  stranger  to  the  people  of  the  Atlantic 
States.  He  was  not  long  in  the  Senate  before  one  or  two  great 
political  orations  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  speakers  of  that 
body,  and  established  throughout  the  country  his  fame  as  the  lead- 
ing orator  of  the  new  party,  now  successful  for  the  first  time  in  the 
elections  of  1860,  and  just  entering  on  a  long  career  of  power. 
He  had  been  intimately  acquainted  in  Illinois  for  many  years  with 
Lincoln,  the  new  President,  both  at  the  bar  and  in  political  life,  a 
circumstance  not  without  its  influence  in  his  approach  to  the  high 
public  position  he  was  about  to  take  in  the  councils  of  the  dominant 
party.  But  before  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  at  his  request  I 
spent  some  days  with  him  in  Washington,  and  mixing  but  little 
with  politicians  myself,  was  not  a  little  dismayed  to  learn  the  very 
serious  views  he  entertained  of  the  situation.  It  was  an  ominous 
fact  that  he,  coming  fresh  from  a  popular  canvass,  already  re- 
garded civil  war  as  certain,  and  was  ready  to  advise  me  to  abandon 
the  law  and  study  military  tactics  and  campaigns. 

Long  and  intimately  as  I  had  known  him,  I  now  learned,  or  at 
least  realized,  for  the  first  time  that  this  western  lawyer  who 
despised  municipal  law  as  a  mere  breadwinner's  science,  but  was 
familiar  with  the  biography  and  speeches  of  all  the  great  orators  of 
his  own  tongue,  and  held  stored  in  his  memory  entire  volumes  of 
English  classical  poetry,  was  none  the  less  versed  in  the  marches, 
campaigns  and  battles  of  the  great  historic  soldiers  of  ancient 
and  modern  times.  I  have  no  intention  of  entering  here  upon  any 
history  of  war,  politics,  or  any  other  topic  of  public  affairs  beyond 
the  mere  incidents  inseparably  interwoven  with  my  own  personal 
recollections.  The  public  events  of  the  times  have  been  narrated 


10  A  WESTERN  TBIP 

and  discussed  in  a  thousand  volumes  written  on  both  sides, 
and  from  every  point  of  view.  But  to  make  intelligible  the  diver- 
gence of  our  views,  some  brief  explanation  of  our  different  stand- 
points may  deserve  a  place  here.  Baker  believing — or  thinking 
he  believed — in  all  the  American  theories  of  the  infinite  wisdom  of 
ignorant  individuals  however  mercenary  and  degraded,  provided, 
only  they  are  collected  in  noisy  masses  to  vote,  was  a  politician  by 
instinct  and  temperament,  and  on  the  death  of  the  Whig  party 
had  naturally  drifted  to  the  Republican,  its  pretended  heir  and 
administrator.  On  the  other  hand  I,  while  never  much  interested 
in  political  affairs  beyond  the  local  squabbles  of  California,  and 
believing  nothing  of  the  mathematical  absurdity  of  a  thousand 
fools  when  collected  in  a  mob  emitting  all  wisdom,  learning 
and  judgment,  had  been  led  from  the  Whig  to  the  Democratic 
party,  principally  by  the  simplicity  and  attractiveness  of  a  few 
leading  principles,  among  which  may  be  briefly  mentioned  the 
following: 

The  original  and  unimpaired  sovereignty  of  the  States  in  all 
matters  not  granted  by  them  to  the  federal  government  of  their 
own  creation. 

The  limitation  of  federal  powers  to  those  enumerated  in  the 
Constitution,  the  only  law  for  its  own  construction. 

Freedom  of  the  individual  in  trade  as  in  all  things,  as  far  as  con- 
sistent with  public  order  and  the  necessity  for  public  revenue. 

A  sound  currency  everywhere  convertible  at  par  into  the  one 
recognized  medium  of  the  world. 

These  principles  comprised  most  of  my  political  creed  then  as 
they  do  now,  and  I  had  given  little  attention  to  the  noisy  excite- 
ment of  the  day,  taking  for  granted  the  row  would  get  itself  peace- 
fully settled  in  some  way,  as  so  many  teapot  tempests  had  done 
before.  Baker's  acceptance  of  the  certainty  of  war  at  or  immedi- 
ately after  Lincoln's  accession,  was  therefore  not  a  little  startling, 
especially  in  view  of  his  familiarity  with  political  topics  and  his 
intimacy  with  the  coming  Republican  leaders.  After  the  new 
Administration  took  office  on  March  4th,  being  again  in  Washing- 
ton about  some  business  in  the  Supreme  Court,  I  found  Baker's 
views  had  evidently  gained  ground,  particularly  among  extremists 


THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  FORT  SUMPTER  11 

on  both  sides  who,  wide  as  the  poles  asunder  on  other  questions, 
agreed  in  the  expectation  of,  if  not  the  avowed  wish  for,  war. 
Baker,  though  no  extremist  himself,  had  many  Republican  friends 
who  well  deserved  the  title,  and  made  no  concealment  of  theirwish, 
while  personal  friends  of  my  own  on  the  other  side,  seemed  to  my 
provincial  apprehension,  equally  belligerent.  Dining  with  one  of 
these,  I  met  Gov.  Lane,  the  unsuccessful  candidate  for  Vice  Presi- 
dent; L.  Q.  Washington,  afterwards  Assistant  Secretary  of  State  to 
the  Confederacy;  Boyce  and  Bonham,  South  Carolina  M.  Cs.  and 
other  southern  Senators  and  Representatives,  and  though  looked  on 
as  southern,  or  at  least  friendly  in  sympathy,  found  myself  prac- 
tically alone  in  my  aversion  to  war  and  to  the  speeches  and  acts  of 
hot-heads  on  both  sides,  which,  if  not  repressed,  could  lead  to  no 
other  result. 

In  Philadelphia  one  naturally  heard  less  of  the  violence  of  the 
political  ebulition,  and  immersed  in  my  own  increasing  affairs,  and 
unable  to  realize  the  imminence  of  the  stupendous  reality  of  civil 
war,  I  was  still  fatuously  hoping  the  politicians  might  get  their 
differences  adjusted,  when  suddenly  upon  me  and  other  millions 
of  blind  and  infatuate  optimists,  burst  like  a  shaking  of  the  solid 
earth  beneath  us,  the  portentous  fact  of  the  bombardment  of 
Fort  Sumter.  Though  the  event  followed  logically  enough  the 
declarations  and  preparations  openly  made  by  both  northern  and 
southern  leaders,  the  general  public  were  so  accustomed  to  polit- 
ical bluster  that  they  were  taken  absolutely  by  surprise,  quickly 
followed  by  intense  indignation,  directed  naturally  enough  at  the 
authors  of  the  first  overt  act.  The  President,  either  not  himself 
at  once  perceiving  the  magnitude  of  the  impending  struggle,  or 
with  the  keen  instincts  of  a  practical  politician,  willing  to  let  it 
dawn  gradually  on  popular  apprehension,  contented  himself 
at  first  with  calling  on  the  States  for  the  insignificant  force  of 
75,000  men,  of  which  the  quota  of  Pennsylvania  was  forthwith 
ordered  out  by  the  Governor  from  the  State  Militia.  On  Major- 
General  George  Cadwalader  devolved  the  duty  of  reorganizing, 
mustering  and  preparing  for  the  field  the  Philadelphia  Division, 
and  I  at  once  received  from  him  an  invitation  to  assist  in  the  capac- 
ity of  aide-de-camp  on  his  personal  staff. 


12  OUTBBEAK   OF  THE   WAR 

Having  till  now  failed  adequately  to  realize  the  situation,  I 
was  unprepared  with  a  definite  course  for  this  sudden  emergency, 
and  having  but  a  single  night  to  consider  a  reply  which  must  prob- 
ably govern  my  future  acts,  I  passed  the  whole  of  it  in  close  men- 
tal struggle  in  the  effort  to  reach  a  right  conclusion.  Of  course 
there  are  those  who  never  having  had  any  difficult  or  complicated 
decision  to  make,  expect  all  men  to  be  forever  cocked,  primed  and 
ready  for  any  mental  emergency  however  sudden;  and  I  have  been 
accused  by  newspaper  patriots,  blissfully  ignorant  of  all  sides 
but  their  own,  of  being  at  first  in  doubt  which  side  to  espouse. 
Whether,  if  true,  that  be  an  opprobrium  or  only  a  proof  of  thought- 
ful and  intelligent  rectitude  of  purpose,  I  have  always  chosen  and 
still  choose  to  leave  for  others  to  decide.  My  State  was  about  to 
take  one  side,  and  all  my  personal  friends,  or  most  of  them,  the 
other.  My  oldest  and  best  friends  were  southern  men  counting  me 
as  one  of  themselves,  and  sure  to  be  in  service  on  that  side.  They 
had  so  surely  counted  on  their  old  associate  that  they  had  even  pro- 
vided me  a  place,  and  offered  me  rank  in  their  army.  The  course 
long  pursued  by  roguish  politicians,  who  to  gratify  ignorant  fanat- 
icism and  class  jealousies,  or  to  win  political  capital  for  themselves, 
had  systematically  insulted  the  South,  trampled  on  its  constitu- 
tional rights,  excluded  its  property  from  the  common  territory,  and 
nullified  the  constitutional  compact  respecting  fugitive  slaves,  was 
not  a  character  to  win  one's  mind  from  these  considerations. 

On  the  other  hand,  crimination  and  discussion  were  over  and 
useless;  war  was  commenced,  and  my  native  State  had  called  out 
her  strength  for  defence.  I  could  not,  and  ought  not  to  evade  the 
struggle.  In  the  prime  of  youth  and  vigor,  I  surely  owed  a  duty 
somewhere.  To  whom?  Not  to  the  Federal  Government  whose 
partisan  usurpations  and  sectional  mismanagement  had  goaded  on 
resistance.  Still  less  to  the  South,  where  my  only  tie  was  sympa- 
thy and  friendship  for  individuals,  which  could  not  justify  taking 
up  arms  against  my  native  State,  in  whose  allegiance,  like  my 
ancestors,  I  was  born  and  reared.  But  this  process  of  exclusion 
left  but  one  alternative.  I  must  range  myself  on  the  side  of 
Pennsylvania  against  all  her  enemies,  wherever  her  march  should 
lead.  Though  no  opportunity  then  existed  for  comparing  my 


A   EEGIMENT   BECRUITED  13 

conclusion  with  others,  and  I  knew  it  not  at  the  time,  this  convic- 
tion of  the  primary  allegiance  due  one's  native  State,  was  on  the 
identical  line  of  thought  that  after  long  and  painful  hesitation 
unsheathed  the  spotless  sword  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  and  so  many 
other  high-minded  and  patriotic  men,  who  when  through  no  fault 
of  their  own,  they  found  natural  allegiance  pitted  against  Federal 
obligations,  found  themselves  obliged  to  give  preference  to  the  first. 
Early  on  the  following  morning,  finding  my  mind  at  last  clear,  I 
accepted  the  invitation  and  went  to  work  with  my  chief  upon  his 
arduous  and  by  no  means  pleasing  task  of  getting  the  neglected 
militia  into  condition  for  the  field.  While  engaged  in  this  busi- 
ness, procuring  and  inspecting  equipment,  filling  up  enlistments, 
sifting  the  claims  and  merits  of  the  ambitious,  and  performing 
many  other  details  pertaining  more  to  the  duties  of  the  incompe- 
tent regimental  officers  than  to  staff  duty,  I  received  a  telegram 
from  Col.  Baker  urging  me  to  come  to  Washington  immediately  on 
important  business.  Aware  of  his  impulsive  methods,  I  tele- 
graphed that  I  was  much  occupied,  and  begged  to  know  the  nature 
of  the  business.  To  this  I  received  a  reply,  dated  from  the  train 
en  route  to  New  York,  of  such  pressing  character,  that  I  took  a 
night  train  and  met  him  in  that  city  next  morning.  The  business 
proved  to  be  an  order  from  the  President,  dated  May  8th,  1861, 
authorizing  him  to  raise  and  equip  an  infantry  regiment  of  sixteen 
companies,  to  be  called  the  California  Regiment,  to  be  mustered 
into  the  U.  S.  service  at  New  York,  and  to  be  organized  and  com- 
manded by  himself  as  colonel.  ''Well,"  said  I,  "if  you  propose 
to  leave  your  seat  in  the  Senate  to  be  an  infantry  colonel,  what  do 
you  want  of  me?"  "Can  you  raise  this  regiment?"  "Not  in 
New  York,  I  have  no  acquaintance  there."  "Can  you  raise  it  in 
Philadelphia?"  "I  think  I  can,  but  am  not  sure."  "Very  well; 
your  private  business  is  sure  to  be  broken  up  and  not  worth  fol- 
lowing for  a  while  at  least.  Abandon  it.  Go  to  work  and  raise 
this  regiment  in  Philadelphia,  bringing  the  men  over  here  to  be 
mustered.  I  cannot  at  this  moment  accept  military  rank  without 
jeopardizing  my  seat  in  the  Senate,  but  you  know  my  relations 
with  Lincoln,  and  if  you  will  do  that  for  me,  I  can  assure  you  that 
within  six  months  I  shall  be  a  major-general,  and  you  shall  have  a 


14  OUTBREAK    OF   THE   WAR 

brigadier-general's  commission  and  a  satisfactory  command  under 
me."  The  chance  to  plunge  in  medias  res  without  loss  of  timewas 
so  tempting  that  my  doubts  and  hesitations  were  swept  aside,  and 
I  agreed  to  undertake  the  work  if  my  General  would  let  me  off. 

As  I  possessed  no  staff  commission,  and  General  Cadwalader 
could  not  immediately  procure  me  one,  he  very  kindly  accepted 
my  resignation  at  once.  Early  next  morning  all  my  legal  busi- 
ness, of  which  I  then  had  a  considerable  number  of  local  cases  on 
my  docket,  was  distributed  among  willing  friends,  books  and  papers 
boxed  up  and  stored,  and  the  office  front  covered  with  placards; 
some  hired  drums  and  fifes  made  life  miserable  for  my  unlucky 
neighbors,  and  the  California  Regiment  was  well  under  way.  In 
war  as  in  peace,  rum  seems  connected  in  some  mysterious  way  with 
the  public  aff airs  of  a  free  people,  and  everyone  knows  that  saloons 
and  grog-shops  are  the  chosen  abodes  of  patriotic  fervor.  It  is 
impossible  to  remember  how  many  of  these  last  I  had  to  visit,  or 
how  many  drinks  of  bad  whiskey  I  was  obliged  to  consume  and 
bestow  in  the  service  of  my  country;  but  on  the  second  night  I 
took  100  men  to  New  York  by  the  midnight  emigrant  train,  at  the 
fare  of  a  dollar  a  head,  which  was  part  of  my  pecuniary  tribute  to 
the  cause.  It  took  sufficient  measures  to  keep  up  the  excitement 
during  my  absence,  and  at  least  as  often  as  two  or  three  times  a 
week  I  took  over  a  similar  contingent,  all  being  safely  locked 
up  and  kept  at  elementary  drill  in  a  large  new  building  at  4th  Street 
and  Broadway,  secured  for  the  purpose  by  Col.  Baker.  As  the 
commissariat,  music  and  many  other  items  had  for  a  time  to  be 
supplied  by  myself,  I  soon  found  my  beloved  country  indebted  to 
me  in  the  amount  of  several  thousand  dollars,  most  of  which  it  con- 
tinues to  owe  me  to  this  day,  since  the  special  appropriation  by 
Congress  of  $20,000,000,  for  raising,  arming  and  equipping  volun- 
teers, made  subsequently,  when  I  was  far  away  in  Virginia,  was 
absorbed  by  tardier  but  more  observant  patriots  who  enjoyed 
a  better  or  more  timely  opportunity  to  approach  the  public  trough. 

Space  would  fail  to  relate  the  innumerable  funny  incidents  of 
this  business,  in  which  I  constantly  had  to  interview  the  families 
and  friends  of  the  aspirants,  after  exhausting  my  eloquence  on 
themselves.  Many  repented  after  signing  their  names  and  taking 


DRILLING   AT   FORT  SCHUYLER  15 

the  extra-legal  and  ex  tempore  devised  oath  administered  by  myself 
on  a  borrowed  Bible,  or  an  old  volume  of  state  reports  that  bore 
sufficient  external  resemblance  to  that  venerable  volume.  Others 
after  a  brief  trial  found  they  preferred  some  rival  recruiting  office, 
or  to  go  with  some  friend  who  had  got  himself  entangled  under 
another  banner;  and,  in  short,  for  every  hundred  men,  drunk  and 
sober,  actually  got  by  hook  and  crook  safely  on  board  the  cars,  at 
least  a  hundred  and  fifty  had  to  be  enlisted,  in  consequence  of  the 
ever-changing  views  of  themselves  and  their  anxious  relatives. 
Since  notwithstanding  all  the  assurance  that  could  be  assumed,  I 
really  possessed  no  legal  authority  over  them  till  they  should  be 
actually  mustered  into  service  at  the  designated  place,  nothing 
was  safe  till  hustled  bodily  on  the  cars,  and  the  most  promising- 
looking  individuals  hastily  selected  for  non-commissioned  officers 
and  assistants;  and  even  after  the  trains  were  in  motion,  many 
jumped  off,  with  courage  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  were  left 
scattered  promiscuously  in  a  wide  swath  across  the  State  of  New 
Jersey. 

At  last  ten  companies  of  one  hundred  men  each,  having  been 
made  up,  carried  to  New  York,  and  the  perpetually  recurring  gaps 
filled  with  new  recruits  passed  by  the  doctor,  the  men  were  legally 
mustered  in  by  Capt.  W.  F.  Smith,  U.  S.  Engineers,  who  later 
became  distinguished  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  useful 
generals  of  the  war,  and  the  regiment  in  pursuance  of  an  order 
obtained  by  Baker  was  transported  to  Fort  Schuyler  for  organi- 
zation and  instruction.  There  for  the  first  time  it  was  possible  to 
introduce  some  order,  discipline  and  obedience,  to  inure  officers 
and  men  to  regimental  duty  and  life  in  the  field,  and  to  communi- 
cate such  military  instruction  by  day  as  could  be  extracted  from 
text  books  by  night.  The  advantage  gained  for  this  raw  but 
excellent  body  of  men  by  the  short  occupancy  of  the  fort,  was  very 
great,  and  after  three  weeks  of  guard  and  picket  duty  with  almost 
constant  drilling,  the  regiment  made  a  much  better  figure  in 
battalion  marching  and  maneuvres  than  recruits  of  three  months' 
standing,  whom  I  have  since  inspected  at  the  Stirling  Castle 
Depot  of  the  British  Army,  and  infinitely  superior  to  continental 
recruits  whom  I  have  had  opportunity  to  see  after  several  months' 
instruction. 


16  OUTBREAK   OF  THE  WAR 

It  was  in  the  early  part,  or  perhaps  towards  the  middle  of  June, 
that  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Fortress  Monroe,  marching 
through  the  cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  with 
a  steadiness  and  martial  appearance  that  compared  favorably  with 
any  of  the  new  volunteers.  At  Philadelphia  it  was  encamped  a 
few  days  at  Suffolk  Park,  where,  pursuant  to  special  authority,  it 
received  six  more  full  companies,  and  was  reorganized  in  two  bat- 
talions of  800  men  each,  with  myself  as  Lieut.-Col.  Commanding 
(Baker  being  usually  absent  at  Washington),  and  R.  A.  Parrish 
and  Charles  W.  Smith  as  Majors.  From  Fortress  Monroe  the 
command  was  marched  a  few  miles  beyond  Hampton,  where  it 
took  position  and  picketed  an  extended  front.  Here  it  was  visited 
by  Col.  Baker,  who  camped  with  it  for  the  first  time,  his  duties  in 
the  Senate  having  hitherto  engrossed  most  of  his  time  and  atten- 
tion. Constant  drill,  with  marching,  guard  and  picket  duty,  and 
such  other  instruction  of  all  ranks  as  is  best  found  in  actual  field 
work,  occupied  the  entire  time  till  recalled  for  the  defense  of  Wash- 
ington after  the  rout  at  Bull  Run  on  the  21st  of  July.  There, 
the  panic  having  subsided,  and  the  disappointed  politicians  who 
had  expected  to  follow  McDowell's  improvised  rabble  safely  and 
expeditiously  into  Richmond,  having  recovered  their  breath,  the 
regiment  went  into  camp  a  short  distance  from  the  city  on  some 
property  belonging  to  the  bankers  Corcoran  and  Riggs,  or  one  of 
them. 

For  purposes  of  discipline  and  instruction  this  camp  was  regu- 
lated as  though  in  presence  of  an  enemy,  with  guards,  pickets, 
escorts  and  patrols,  though  hard  steady  drill  was  never  neglected. 
The  regiment  was  here  temporarily  brigaded  with  some  Massa- 
chusetts regiments,  with  whom,  however,  it  never  camped  or 
drilled.  In  September  it  crossed  the  Potomac  at  the  Chain 
Bridge  and  encamped  a  short  distance  beyond,  where  it  was 
employed  in  constructing  the  large  earthwork  known  as  Fort 
Ethan  Allen,  and  received  another  temporary  brigade  assignment 
with  the  69th  and  72nd  Pennsylvania  regiments,  to  which  the 
106th  was  soon  after  added.  It  had  previously  been  taken  from  its 
anomalous  condition  under  the  direct  control  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  placed  upon  the  roster  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  as 


THE   REGIMENT  UNDER  FIRE  17 

the  71st  of  its  line.  The  brigade  association  was  satisfactory  and 
remained  unchanged  till  the  expiration  of  its  term  of  service  in 
1864,  but  the  high  number  on  the  State  roster,  though  unavoidable 
under  the  circumstances,  was  submitted  to  with  much  regret, 
since  the  71st  had  been  really  the  first  mustered  in  all  the  Pennsyl- 
vania three-year  regiments,  and  but  for  the  absurd  errors  in  the 
original  presidential  order  authorizing  its  formation,  would  have 
received,  as  it  was  entitled  to,  the  first  number  following  the  dis- 
banded three-months'  regiments  of  militia. 

From  the  camp  near  Chain  Bridge  a  trifling  movement  as 
far  as  Lewinsville  first  brought  the  71st  under  artillery  fire. 
Griffin's  battery  being  deployed  on  a  high  ridge  of  ground  and 
smartly  engaged,  the  71st  was  assigned  as  its  support,  and  was 
massed  in  column  close  behind  the  ridge,  where  though  it  suffered 
no  loss,  the  enemy's  shot  and  shell  flying  over  the  ridge  and 
striking  ground  in  rear,  furnished  plenty  of  music.  It  was  during 
this  affair  that  a  small  New  York  newsboy  not  over  twelve  years 
of  age,  was  brought  in  by  the  pickets  with  his  bundle  of  northern 
papers,  which  as  he  artlessly  explained,  he  had,  during  many 
days  past,  been  alternately  peddling  through  both  armies  without 
molestation  from  either.  Clearly  the  picket  duty  of  some  regi- 
ment needed  overhauling.  During  this  artillery  action  the 
battery  became  so  crowded  with  infantry  colonels  and  field  officers 
anxious  to  get  under  fire  for  the  first  tune,  that  they  had  to  be 
requested  to  move  away.  It  is  fair  to  our  intelligence  to  add 
that  most  of  us  soon  became  able  to  restrain  such  curiosity  with 
great  success. 

On  the  night  of  the  28th  of  September  an  unfortunate  col- 
lision occurred  with  friendly  troops  of  Gen.  Fitz-John  Porter's 
Division  which  though  it  cost  some  lives  and  much  indignation 
among  the  public,  first  brought  the  71st  under  the  test  of  a  really 
destructive  fire.  The  enemy  having  occupied  Munson's  Hill, 
at  no  great  distance,  their  skirmishes  and  patrols  began  to  ex- 
hibit an  annoying  amount  of  enterprise,  closely  searching  our 
picket-line  every  night,  hi  one  of  which  affairs  Capt.  Lingen- 
felter  of  the  71st  was  killed.  As  our  Gen.  Wm.  F.  Smith  was  not 
the  man  to  stand  that  sort  of  thing  long,  a  combined  movement  on 


18  OUTBREAK   OF  THE    WAR 

Munson's  Hill  was  arranged  for  the  Divisions  of  Smith  and  Porter, 
to  take  place  on  the  night  of  the  28th.  Our  column  marched  at 
midnight,  the  71st  in  advance  under  my  command,  Col.  Baker 
being  in  Washington.  On  reaching  a  certain  point,  beyond  which 
I  was  informed  by  a  staff  officer  that  all  troops  found  would  be 
hostile,  in  obedience  to  orders  an  advance  guard  was  suitably  dis- 
posed, and  a  flank  company  deployed  as  skirmishers  at  right 
angles  with  the  column  on  either  hand,  the  road  being  narrow  and 
bad,  and  lined  with  dense  woods.  Moving  forward  in  this  order, 
being  myself  in  person  with  the  advance  guard,  presently  the  route 
turned  squarely  to  the  right  at  a  cross  roads.  At  this  point  some 
confusion  was  naturally  caused  among  the  flankers  obliged  to 
wheel  on  such  an  extensive  circle  in  thick  woods,  and  the  officers 
enjoined  to  silence.  This  would  soon  have  been  rectified  by  the 
energy  and  capacity  of  Markoe,  the  Captain  of  the  left  flanking 
company,  but  for  the  unfortunate  circumstance  of  a  collision  in 
the  woods  with  a  skirmish  line  of  Porter's  division,  which  if  our 
column  as  directed  by  the  Division  Staff  was  moving  correctly, 
plainly  had  no  business  to  be  there. 

Our  skirmishers  drove  these  men  rapidly  before  them  and 
the  fugitives  falling  back  on  their  reserves,  were  formed  with 
inconceivable  stupidity  in  line  of  battle  in  the  woods,  in  advance 
of  our  column  and  along  the  road  by  which  it  was  coming  up.  It 
is  hard  to  imagine  the  muddled  condition  of  the  officer's  mind  who 
thus  ambushed  his  command  against  the  head  of  a  heavy  column 
coming  from  the  direction  of  his  own  rear.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
so  arranged,  and  the  advance  guard  having  passed  by,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  head  of  the  main  column,  a  long  line  of  fire  burst 
suddenly  upon  it  from  the  woods  on  the  left,  at  the  distance  of  a 
few  yards.  With  the  precautions  taken,  or  with  almost  any 
precaution  whatever,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the 
column  to  be  caught  thus  by  an  enemy,  but  it  was  not  proof 
against  the  stupidity  of  its  friends.  The  company  officers  gen- 
erally behaved  well,  seconding  with  energy  the  orders  at  once 
given  to  halt,  face  to  the  left,  and  hold  their  fire.  The  woods 
might  have  been  cleared  by  a  detachment,  but  that  would  have 
led  to  an  interminable  fight  in  the  dense  darkness  of  the  woods, 


A   BAD   ERROR  IN   TACTICS  19 

where  explanation  and  adjustment  would  have  been  difficult 
till  daylight.  It  was  therefore  determined  to  stand  fast  where 
we  were,  and  endeavor  to  stop  the  firing,  satisfied  there  could  be 
no  troops  there  but  ours.  I  galloped  up  and  down  the  road  be- 
tween the  two  lines  of  excited  individuals  shouting  and  firing 
on  each  other  across  a  narrow  road,  in  earnest  efforts  to  stop  the 
firing,  which  was  at  length  accomplished,  though  not  till  we  had 
lost  four  killed  and  fourteen  wounded,  and  I  had  a  valuable  horse 
shot  under  me.  As  a  panicky  condition  prevailed  among  the 
troops  in  rear,  who  of  course  supposed  the  leading  battalion  to 
be  engaged  with  an  enemy  whom  they  could  not  get  at,  both 
battalions  were  suitably  disposed  to  command  the  road  in  front, 
while  with  G  company  deployed  as  skirmishers,  I  personally 
raked  the  woods,  from  which  however  the  assailants  had 
departed. 

Of  course  the  country  was  excited  over  this  event,  the  news- 
papers as  usual  denouncing  everyone  from  the  General-in-Chief 
down,  except  only  the  real  culprit  who  was  never  discovered. 
Though  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  strange  skirmishers  was  un- 
doubtedly next  to  an  idiot,  the  person  originally  responsible  was 
probably  some  inexperienced  staff  officer;  but  the  matter  received 
no  public  investigation.  Melancholy  as  the  affair  proved  to  the 
71st,  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  it  did  not  gain  an  equivalent 
in  the  sharp  lesson  it  afforded  of  the  value  of  discipline  and 
obedience;  since  I  do  not  remember  any  subsequent  difficulty  in 
holding  its  fire  reserved  in  subjection  to  orders,  and  it  is  for 
this  reason  I  have  given  so  much  space  to  such  an  insignificant 
affair.  No  doubt  for  a  body  of  men  never  yet  in  general  action, 
persistently  fired  upon  in  the  darkness  across  the  width  of  a 
country  road  by  troops  of  unknown  character  and  force,  it  was  a 
supreme  test  of  their  brief  experience  of  discipline  to  refrain 
as  well  as  they  did  from  using  the  arms  in  their  hands,  for  cer- 
tainly not  over  one  shot  was  fired  for  ten  that  they  received,  and 
they  were  the  first  to  yield  to  their  officers'  efforts. 

Soon  after  this  inglorious  affair  the  71st  marched  to  Pooles- 
ville,  Md.,  on  the  upper  Potomac,  where  was  soon  assembled, 
under  command  of  Gen.  Charles  P.  Stone,  the  extreme  right  wing 


20  OUTBREAK   OF  THE   WAB 

of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  nearly  corresponding  with  the  troops 
soon  after  organized  as  Sedgwick's  Division  of  the  2nd  A.  C.  The 
Philadelphia  Brigade,  as  it  became  familiarly  called,  was  here 
definitely  organized,  consisting  of  the  69th,  71st,  72nd,  and  106th 
Pennsylvania  regiments  under  Baker,  who  now  regularly  assumed 
command  of  the  brigade;  the  71st,  falling  definitely  to  me  as 
Lieut.-Col.  Commanding.  The  great  armies  destined  to  become 
inseparably  connected  with  American  history,  and  now  preparing 
to  spring  upon  each  other,  were  at  this  time  separated  throughout 
a  distance  of  over  forty  miles  by  the  river  Potomac,  averaging 
more  than  a  mile  in  width;  and  it  was  here  on  an  extreme  wing 
that  in  spite  of  generals  and  plans,  fate  had  arranged  the  first 
serious  occasion  for  testing  each  other's  mettle. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   DISASTROUS  BATTLE   OP  BALL'S  BLUFF 

It  was  after  midnight  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  October 
that  I  was  awakened  to  receive  and  read  by  such  light  as  was 
afforded  by  the  lantern  of  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  the  fol- 
lowing order,  in  its  immediate  results  pregnant  with  fate  to 
many,  but  of  infinitely  more  importance  as  the  inauguration  of 
the  long  and  desperate  struggle  by  a  useless  and  bloody  prologue. 

Hdqrs.  Baker's  Brigade, 
1  A.M.  21st  October,  1861. 
Special  Order. 

The  right  wing  Gala.  Regt.  (less  camp  guards)  under  command  of  Lieut.- 
Col.  Wistar  will  proceed  to  Conrad's  Ferry,  to  arrive  at  sunrise  and 
await  orders.  The  men  will  take  blankets,  overcoats  and  forty  rounds  in 
their  cartridge  boxes,  and  will  be  folio  wed  by  one  day's  rations  in  wagons. 

By  command  of  Col.  Baker,  Comdg., 
FRKD  HARVEY, 
A.  A.  G. 

The  rest  may  as  well  be  told  by  the  insertion  here  of  my  official 
report  made  directly  to  the  General  of  Division  in  consequence 
of  the  death  of  the  Brigade  General  and  all  his  staff,  supple- 
mented by  a  statement  prepared  a  few  years  ago  for  the  Regi- 
mental Survivors'  Association,  at  their  request,  and  read  at  one 
of  their  annual  banquets. 

Headquarters  California  Regiment: 
Camp  near  Poolesville,  Md.,  Nov.  7th,  1861. 

BRIG.-GEN.  CHARLES  P.  STONE,  Commanding  Division. 
General:- 

Being  partially  released  by  my  physicians  from  their  injunctions  of 
solitude  and  silence,  I  proceed  to  report  to  you  the  operations  of  a  part  of 
my  regiment  on  the  21st  ult. 

21 


22  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

At  half-past  two  A.M.  on  that  day,  I  received  your  order  through  our 
late  lamented  Brigade  Commander,  to  march  with  my  first  battalion, 
so  as  to  arrive  below  Conrad's  Ferry  by  sunrise. 

At  sunrise  I  was  there  with  the  battalion,  numbering  five  hundred  and 
seventy  men,  in  eight  companies,  including  officers.  I  immediately  sent 
an  officer  to  report  to  you  at  Edward's  Ferry,  between  four  and  five  miles 
below,  who  returned  about  half-past  eight,  with  your  direction  "to  wait 
further  orders,  unless  I  should  hear  heavy  firing  over  the  river,  in  which 
event  to  cross  at  once,  and  support  Colonel  Devins."  Slight  firing  had 
occurred  there  about  an  hour  before,  but  after  the  reception  of  this  order 
there  was  no  more  whatever  until  afternoon.  A  short  time  after  this 
order  reached  me,  General  Baker  and  staff  arrived.  I  communicated  it 
to  him,  when,  after  a  brief  conversation,  he  continued  on  down  the  river 
in  search  of  you.  In  an  hour,  an  officer  of  his  staff  returned  with  the 
order:  "General  Baker  directs  you  to  cross  at  once."  I  had  scarcely 
time  to  commence  when  General  Baker  himself  returned  and  directed  me 
to  proceed  with  all  haste. 

I  had  two  scows,  of  the  capacity  of  forty  men  each,  on  the  Maryland 
side  of  Harrison's  Island,  and  one  on  the  Virginia  side,  of  the  capacity  of 
fifty  men.  I  had  got  four  companies  on  the  Island  and  one  on  the  Vir- 
ginia side  (having  been  delayed  at  the  second  crossingiby  other  troops) 
when  General  Baker  arrived  on  the  Island  and  crossed  at  once  to  the 
Virginia  side. 

After  crossing  six  companies  to  the  Virginia  side,  I  left  the  Island  and 
passed  over  myself,  leaving  Captain  Ritman  to  hurry  on  the  transpor- 
tation. 

The  Virginia  side  of  the  river  was  a  bluff,  eighty  feet  high,  nearly  per- 
pendicular, and  covered  with  rocks  and  a  dense  thicket.  Stretching  away 
directly  from  the  summit  was  an  open  field  of  oblong  shape,  extending 
back  from  the  river  two  hundred  yards,  by  a  width  of  seventy;  this  was 
entirely  surrounded  by  woods,  except  a  triangular  opening  distant 
about  two-thirds  of  the  length  of  the  field  from  the  river,  extending  into 
the  woods  on  the  left,  say  one  hundred  yards. 

When  I  reached  the  top  of  the  bluff,  General  Baker  immediately 
explained  his  plan  of  battle,  stating  his  whole  force  to  be  twelve  hundred 
men,  at  the  same  time  reading  to  me  your  despatch,  announcing  the 
approach  of  four  thousand  of  the  enemy  from  Leesburg,  and  expressing 
his  own  serious  doubts  of  the  result.  The  detachment  of  the  Fifteenth 
Massachusetts  was  drawn  up  in  the  edge  of  the  woods  on  the  right,  facing 
up  the  river.  The  rest  of  our  forces  were  arranged  across  the  end  of  the 
open  field,  at  right  angles  with  the  former,  their  backs  towards  the  river; 
my  battalion  having  the  left,  three  companies  being  in  reserve,  and  one 
deployed  as  skirmishers  to  cover  the  left  flank. 

From  the  left  of  our  position,  at  the  edge  of  the  woods,  the  ground  fell 
rapidly  to  the  left,  about  thirty  yards,  to  a  gully,  on  the  other  side  of 
which  it  rose  to  a  hill  higher  than  the  ground  on  which  we  stood,  at  short 
distance. 


COLONEL  WISTAR'S  OFFICIAL  REPOBT  23 

The  enemy's  first  fire  was  scattering,  some  of  it  from  tree-tops  around 
the  field,  where  they  had  placed  their  marksmen — our  men  lying  down 
for  shelter,  by  command. 

After  comprehending  the  general  condition,  I  requested  permission  to 
make  a  change  in  the  disposition  of  our  skirmishers  on  the  left,  when 
General  Baker  directed  me  to  take  command  of  the  left  flank,  and  make 
any  disposition  I  saw  fit.  In  pursuance  of  this  order  I  was  about  to 
advance  the  skirmishers  to  the  left  when  General  Baker  returned,  and 
after  a  brief  consultation  with  Colonel  Cogswell  and  myself,  directed  me 
to  throw  out  two  companies  as  skirmishers  to  feel  the  woods  in  front  for 
the  precise  location  of  the  enemy's  right,  getting  as  much  cover  for  the 
movement  as  possible  from  the  woods  on  the  left,  with  directions  if 
attacked  in  force,  to  contest  the  ground  and  fall  back,  fighting.1 

In  the  execution  of  this  order,  Captain  John  Markoe,  with  his  company 
(A),  immediately  moved  out,  company  D  following  in  support,  under 
Lieutenant  Wade — the  latter  company  being  short  of  officers — and  the 
bulk  of  my  command  needing  no  immediate  attention,  I  accompanied 
the  movement  myself. 

The  two  companies  moved  rapidly  up  under  cover  of  the  woods  on  the 
left,  until  reaching  the  triangular  open  space  before  mentioned,  when 
they  were  met  by  a  galling  fire  from  the  enemy's  riflemen  on  their  front 
and  left.  Company  A,  left  by  Markoe  and  closely  followed  by  D,  rush- 
ing quickly  over  the  open  ground  entered  the  woods,  when  a  whole  regi- 
ment of  the  enemy  (8th  Virginia)  rose  up  from  the  ground  at  thirty  paces 
distance  and  charged  with  the  bayonet.  A  severe  contest  ensued,  but 
our  skirmishers  somewhat  checked  the  enemy's  charge  by  taking  trees 
and  throwing  an  effective  fire  into  their  crowded  ranks,  at  close  distance. 
The  right  wing  of  our  skirmishers  was  soon  destroyed,  but  the  left  con- 
tinued to  hold  ground  for  some  time  until  Markoe  was  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner,  when  the  survivors  slowly  fell  back,  bringing  with  them 
several  prisoners,  including  an  officer  of  the  "  Eighth  Virginia,"  whom  I 
had  the  honor  of  sending  to  you  the  following  morning. 

These  two  companies  suffered  severely  in  this  gallant  effort,  company 
A  having  lost  all  three  of  its  officers,  and  all  its  sergeants,  except  two,  one 
of  whom  is  wounded. 

The  enemy,  in  force  in  front,  hearing  this  sharp  fir  ing  on  their  right, 
immediately  (half-past  two  P.M.)  opened  fire  on  our  main  body;  and  as 
soon  as  our  skirmishers  had  fallen  back,  made  repeated  and  desperate 
efforts,  in  constantly  increasing  force,  to  turn  our  left.  Five  times  they 
charged  down  the  gully,  and  were  as  often  foiled  and  driven  back  by  the 
steady  conduct,  and  heavy  fire  of  our  men.  Our  firing  in  front  was 
probably  not  very  effective,  the  enemy  being  well  covered  in  the  woods — 
but  on  the  left  it  was  very  destructive,  our  men  bravely  enduring  a  contin- 
uous fire  from  the  front,  and  repelling  with  steadiness  the  enemy's 
repeated  charges  from  that  direction.  The  twelve-pounder  afforded 

1  See  Evening  Telegraph,  February  1st,  2d,  and  4th,  1893,  for  comments  on 
General  Markoe's  record  as  a  soldier. 


24  THE  DISASTBOUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

valuable  aid.  All  its  artillerymen  .having  been  killed  or  dispersed,  it 
was  worked  by  Lieutenant  Bramall,  and  two  or  three  field  officers  of  the 
California  and  Tammany  Regiments,  with  great  effect. 

At  a  quarter-past  five  the  enemy  succeeded,  by  dint  of  numbers,  in 
gaining  a  footing  on  our  side  of  the  gully,  when  our  men  refusing  to  give 
ground,  they  became  mixed  up,  and  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  contest 
ensued. 

Our  right  and  center  was  at  the  same  time  severely  pressed  and  conse- 
quently unable  to  afford  assistance.  At  this  moment  I  was 
finally  disabled  by  a  third  wound,  and  a  moment  afterwards,  almost  in 
the  same  spot,  the  brave  General  Baker  fell — gloriously,  at  the  head  of 
his  men. 

His  death  was  instantly  avenged  and  his  body  recovered  by  a  few  brave 
men,  led  by  Captain  Harvey  (Brigade  Adjutant  General),  who,  I  regret 
to  say,  was  himself  killed  soon  afterward. 

A  stern  and  bloody  contest  was  now  taking  place ;  fresh  masses  of  the 
enemy  swarmed  in  on  all  sides,  when  an  unauthorized  order  was  given  by 
someone  to  the  men  of  another  regiment,  "Retreat  to  the  ferry."  This 
withdrew  a  portion  of  our  numbers,  and  caused  some  confusion  among 
the  men  of  the  California  and  Tammany  Regiments,  who  stood  by  each 
other  to  the  last,  retiring,  inch  by  inch,  slowly  and  with  considerable  order 
until  pressed  over  the  bluff  by  the  closing  masses  of  the  enemy.  Our 
men  maintained  a  sharp  fire  from  the  river  bank,  and  made  two  or  three 
spirited  charges,  led  by  Colonel  Cogswell,  which  held  the  enemy  in 
check  at  the  top  of  the  bluff,  until  those  of  our  men  who  could  swim  had 
divested  themselves  of  arms  and  clothing  and  taken  to  the  water. 

Finding  further  resistance  useless  for  any  good  purpose  and  with  no 
means  whatever  of  crossing  the  river  (the  only  scow  on  that  side  the 
Island  having  sunk  some  time  previously  with  all  on  board,  owing  to  the 
bottom  having  fallen  out)  the  remainder  surrendered  at  1 1  P.  M. 

The  two  howitzers,  and  most  of  the  small  arms,  were  concealed  in  the 
river.  The  12-pound  gun  was  thrown  over  the  bluff  with  the  same  inten- 
tion, but  lodged  among  trees  and  rocks. 

Color  Sergeant  R.  C.  Woods  was  shot  through  both  legs  early  in  the 
action.  The  colors  were  taken  by  Private  George  Suttie,  company  G, 
who  bore  them  bravely  through  the  remainder  of  the  action,  but  in 
attempting  to  swim  the  river  with  them,  afterwards  was  obliged  from 
excessive  cold  and  fatigue,  let  to  them  go  in  the  middle  of  the  stream. 

The  other  Color  Sergeant,  Vansant,  also  displayed  conspicuous  gallan- 
try, and  after  dark  waded  into  the  river,  waistdeep,  and  buried  his 
colors  under  a  pile  of  stones.  They  had  been  first  shot  to  tatters,  and 
the  staff  cut  in  two,  by  the  enemy's  bullets. 

Subsequent  events  were  witnessed  by  yourself  in  person. 

The  bravery  and  steadiness  of  the  officers  and  men  throughout  the 
whole  affair,  under  circumstances  plainly  hopeless  from  the  first,  was 
beyond  praise.  Many  of  the  men  supplied  themselves  with  cartridges 
from  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  after  their  own  had  been  expended. 

Of  the  eighteen  officers,  of  all  ranks,  present  in  action  all  are  either 
killed,  wounded  or  missing,  except  two  lieutenants. 


LETTER  TO  THE  SURVIVORS'  ASSOCIATION  25 

Of  the  five  hundred  and  seventy  officers  and  men  taken  into  action, 
the  total  loss,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  (many  of  the  latter  being 
necessarily  left  dead  or  wounded  on  the  field,  or  drowned  in  the  river), 
amounts  to  three  hundred  and  five,  according  to  a  report  heretofore 
submitted. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  General, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ISAAC  J.  WISTAB, 
Lieut.-Col.  Commanding  California  Regiment. 

MR.  JOHN  W.  FRAZER, 

Secretary  Survivors'  Association, 
Dear  Sir: 

In  consequence  of  my  inability  to  be  present  and  respond  personally 
at  the  proposed  banquet  of  the  Survivors'  Association  of  the  71st  Regi- 
ment Pennsylvania  Volunteers  to  the  toast  "  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker — our 
first  commander,  a  soldier,  a  statesman  and  sympathizing  comrade,"  I 
am  obliged  to  avail  myself  of  your  alternative  invitation  in  addressing  by 
letter  these  few  remarks. 

It  is  well  for  the  survivors  of  the  regiment  which  first  introduced  most 
of  us  to  the  profession  of  arms,  to  hold  fast  to  the  memory  of  that  illus- 
trious man  who,  under  the  benign  institutions  of  our  country,  rose  from 
an  obscure  place  in  life  to  such  an  important  position  in  political  and 
military  history,  but  who  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame  did  not  forget  the 
interests  of  the  humblest  of  those  under  his  command. 

I  first  met  him  in  the  hotly  contested  trial  of  a  cause  in  San  Francisco 
in  the  year  1853  in  which  he  and  myself  were  opposing  counsel.  There 
was  scarcely  any  equality  between  us,  for  while  his  great  reputation  as  an 
advocate  had  already  extended  throughout  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  had  been 
just  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  was  almost  without  professional  experience. 
Nevertheless  that  lively  encounter  proved  the  beginning  of  a  friendship 
that  accompanied  us  into  far  other  and  different  fields  of  effort,  and 
ceased  only  with  his  life. 

We  became  associated  in  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  so  continued 
from  1853  till  his  removal  to  Oregon  in  1857,  when  the  Legislature  of  that 
State  chose  him  to  represent  it  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  During 
the  absorbing  work  of  the  large  practice  which  fell  to  our  lot  during  those 
years  of  association  there  was  little  time  wasted  on  irrelevant  matters, 
and  I  have  always  regretted  that  I  did  not  then  use  more  effort  to  over- 
come his  uncommunicativeness  respecting  his  early  history.  So  far  as 
my  memory  of  his  conversation  now  serves,  he  was  born  in  England 
about  the  year  1811,  of  poor  but  worthy  and  respectable  parents,  belong- 
ing to  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  emigrated  to  Philadelphia  when  he 
was  about  nine  years  old.  He  was  placed  at  work  in  a  factory  in  this 
city,  which  he  thought  was  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  city,  but 
could  not  precisely  locate.  His  parents  soon  removed  with  their  family 
to  Illinois,  where  at  an  early  age  he  became  connected  with  the  religious 
sect  of  "Campbellites,"  and  before  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  was 


26  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

one  of  their  most  eloquent  and  renowned  preachers.  But  that  quiet 
and  peaceful  profession  soon  failed  to  satisfy  the  restless  activity  and 
ambition  of  his  youth.  He  became  a  lawyer  and  politician,  was  elected 
to  Congress,  and  in  1847  took  command  as  colonel  of  the  4th  Regiment 
of  Illinois  Volunteers  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  He  was  severely  wounded 
by  a  shot  through  the  throat  while  quelling  a  mutiny  in  a  southern  regi- 
ment on  board  a  transport  at  Mobile,  but  recovered  and  served  in  the 
field  till  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  winning  great  renown  at  Cerro  Gordo, 
where,  when  General  Shields  was  wounded,  Baker  took  command  of  his 
brigade  as  senior  colonel,  and  led  it  successfully  against  the  Mexican 
position. 

He  was  re-elected  to  Congress  after  the  war,  where  he  became  distin- 
guished in  debate,  and  after  the  death  of  the  President,  General  Taylor, 
delivered  his  celebrated  eulogy  of  that  great  soldier,  which  immediately 
took  rank  as  one  of  the  most  classic  and  elegant  orations  ever  delivered 
in  the  American  capital.  In  1850  he  went  to  California,  but  suffered  an 
attack  of  fever  on  the  Isthmus,  from  which  he  narrowly  escaped  with  his 
life,  and  by  which  he  was  prematurely  aged  and  his  constitution  perma- 
nently impaired.  At  the  California  bar,  at  that  time  an  exceptionally 
able  one,  adorned  with  remarkable  men  from  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union,  he  speedily  took  a  leading  place,  and  as  a  jury  advocate,  had  no 
superior.  While  our  joint  practice  was  confined  to  the  civil  branch,  he 
was  sought  for  and  accepted  retainers  as  associate  counsel  in  most  of  the 
leading  criminal  cases  of  the  day,  some  of  which  remain  landmarks  in  the 
jurisprudence  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  I  regret  I  have  not  space  even  to 
glance  at  the  most  famous  or  remarkable  of  these,  or  to  dwell  upon  the 
close  discussion  of  facts,  and  the  extraordinary  bursts  of  eloquence  which 
rendered  his  jury  arguments  so  powerful  and  successful.  Your  asso- 
ciation, the  members  of  which  knew  and  loved  him  during  service  with 
him  in  the  great  civil  war,  will  naturally  prefer  to  hear  more  of  him  in 
that  connection. 

During  the  winter  of  1860-61  he  was  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  being  myself  in  attendance  on  the  Supreme  Court,  I  saw 
much  of  him  in  Washington,  where  opinions  were  naturally  excited. 
Though  firm  in  his  views,  he  was  by  no  means  a  bitter  partisan,  many  of 
his  warmest  personal  friends  belonging  to  the  defeated  party.  He  gave 
full  credit  to  the  sincerity  of  southern  statesmen,  and  with  his  positive 
and  ardent  nature  scorned  the  talk  of  peaceful  adjustment.  He  main- 
tained from  the  first  that  the  differences  were  unadjustable  except  by 
war  and  that  a  great  war  was  certain,  upon  the  inauguration  of  the  new 
President,  and  earnestly  advised  me  to  drop  the  law  and  study  tactics. 
Though  he  knew  I  was  not  without  some  militia  experience,  he  insisted 
I  should  join  a  military  company  to  acquire  practical  details,  and  study 
some  of  the  principal  historical  campaigns  for  theory.  He  especially 
delighted  in  those  of  the  most  famous  of  the  ancient  Greek  captains,  as 
well  as  the  modern  ones  of  Frederick,  Marlborough  and  Napoleon,  all  of 
which  he  had  carefully  studied,  and  with  whose  historic  marches  and 
battles  he  was  critically  familiar. 


THE  SEVENTY-FIBST  REGIMENT  VOLUNTEERS  27 

When  at  length  the  sword  was  drawn  he  immediately  obtained  from 
the  President,  with  whom  he  had  been  for  many  years  on  terms  of  inti- 
macy, a  commission  to  raise  and  command  a  three-years'  regiment  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States. 

That  regiment,  as  you  all  know,  was  promptly  raised  in  Philadelphia 
and  served  for  several  months  by  virtue  of  that  commission  before  it  was 
taken  upon  the  roster  of  Pennsylvania,  and  it  was  owing  to  that  circum- 
stance that,  although  the  first  of  the  three-years'  regiments  to  complete 
its  organization  and  muster,  it  became  the  seventy-first  (71st)  of  the 
Pennsylvania  line,  having  lost  numbers  of  its  men  in  action  before 
many  of  the  prior  numbered  regiments  were  in  service  at  all.  The 
reasonable  limits  of  this  letter  compel  me  to  pass  over  most  of  the  regi- 
mental history  prior  to  the  action  of  Ball's  Bluff,  and  proceed  to  recall 
your  recollections  to  that  disastrous  event  which  nearly  destroyed  the 
first  battalion  of  your  regiment  and  closed  at  once  the  career  and  life 
of  Baker. 

At  1  o'clock  A.M.,  October  21st,  1861,  a  division  order  reached  Baker, 
then  encamped  with  and  commanding  the  Philadelphia  Brigade  near 
Poolesville,  Md.,  to  dispatch  the  first  battalion  of  the  71st,  under  com- 
mand of  its  Lieutenant-Colonel,  for  Conrad's  Ferry  on  the  Potomac  so  as 
to  arrive  there  by  sunrise.  Neither  Baker  nor  myself  had  any  idea 
then  of  the  reason  or  object  of  that  order,  nor  of  the  crossing  at  Edward's 
Ferry  effected  on  the  previous  day  by  General  Stone,  the  Division  Com- 
mander, with  other  troops  of  his  Division.  Your  first  battalion  marched 
at  3  A.M.,  arriving  at  Conrad's  Ferry  punctually  at  sunrise  and  reported 
by  a  mounted  officer  (the  chaplain)  to  General  Stone,  who  was  at  Edward's 
Ferry,  five  miles  below,  in  the  meantime  resting  in  ranks  on  the  canal 
towpath.  In  due  time  a  verbal  order  arrived  from  General  Stone,  who 
was  an  able,  generous  and  loyal  officer,  to  "remain  where  you  are  till 
further  orders  unless  heavy  firing  takes  place  on  the  Virginia  side,  indi- 
cating heavy  pressure  on  the  scouting  party  of  the  15th  Massachusetts, 
which  had  been  across  all  night,  in  which  event  cross  a  sufficient  strength 
to  assist  and  extricate  them,  but  with  great  caution." 

Soon  after  the  reception  of  this  order  Colonel  Baker  arrived  in  person, 
having  ordered  the  rest  of  his  brigade  to  follow  him,  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility. He  asked  for  and  heard  the  orders,  and  started  at  a  rapid  gait 
down  the  towpath  for  Division  Headquarters.  When  he  returned  he 
rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  regiment,  and  ordered  me  to  cross  my  entire 
command  as  rapidly  as  possible,  stating  that  General  Stone  had  given 
him  discretion  to  that  extent. 

The  crossing  was  commenced  at  once  with  the  only  three  large  boats 
obtainable,  two  of  them  conveying  the  troops  to  Harrison's  Island,  and 
the  third,  aided  by  a  rowboat,  from  thence  across  the  narrower  channel 
between  the  Island  and  the  Virginia  shore.  Down  to  this  time  no  firing 
had  occurred,  except  an  occasional  shot.  Baker  crossed  on  one  of  the 
first  boats,  having  ordered  me  to  the  Island,  and  another  officer  on  the 
Maryland  side  to  expedite  the  passage.  As  Baker  received  the  small 
bodies  of  arriving  troops  and  hurried  them  into  position,  the  scouting 
company  was  driven  in  and  the  lines  of  battle  became  engaged.  Near  the 


28  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

top  of  a  high  and  timbered  bluff,  across  the  end  of  a  large  open  field 
surrounded  by  forest,  the  line  had  been  formed,  including  besides  your 
own  battalion  parts  of  the  15th  and  20th  Massachusetts,  and  part  of  one 
company  of  the  42nd  New  York,  in  all  about  1400  men.  The  left  rested 
on  a  dry  gully  leading  down  to  the  river,  but  was  otherwise  exposed.  The 
right  extended  into  the  woods,  and  an  unlimbered  howitzer  of  a  Rhode 
Island  battery  (Bramhall's),  without  men,  horses  or  caisson,  was  posted 
in  the  center.  As  the  hostile  regiments  arrived  in  position  the  weight 
and  effect  of  their  fire  increased,  and  the  action  soon  became  close  and 
severe.  The  enemy's  superior  numbers  enabled  them  to  detach  con- 
stantly against  our  exposed  left  without  slackening  their  overpowering 
fire  in  front. 

While  much  occupied  with  the  difficult  situation  of  our  left,  Baker 
came  up  with  a  despatch  just  received  from  General  Stone  to  the  effect 
that  "four  regiments  have  been  seen  by  our  scouts  crossing  an  open  place 
and  marching  towards  you." 

As  the  despatch  had  travelled  five  miles  and  twice  crossed  the  river  it 
was  considered  that  those  regiments  must  already  be  in  our  front  and  we 
were  feeling  their  maximum  effect.  With  our  left  enfiladed  and  in  close 
contact  with  the  enemy  and  an  overpowering  front  fire,  it  was  dangerous 
either  to  manoeuvre  or  withdraw,  even  had  means  existed  to  recross  the 
river.  But  the  command,  though  pinned  fast,  was  firm,  and  it  was 
thought  that  if  the  gun  could  be  got  into  action  and  the  enemy  shaken  in 
front,  our  people  might  be  able  to  clear  away  the  enemy's  flanking  force 
and  get  forward  through  the  woods  to  the  left.  Captain  Stewart  (Lord 
Londonderry)  of  the  Division  Staff,  and  Captain  Harvey,  of  Baker's  Staff, 
both  English  officers  of  experience,  at  once  voluntered,  and  with  two 
infantry  colonels  proceeded  to  work  the  gun  till  the  scanty  ammunition 
in  the  limber  was  exhausted,  by  which  time  the  piece  was  disabled  by 
having  the  spokes  shot  out  of  the  wheels.  Baker  constantly  traversed 
the  line,  watching  for  an  opportunity  of  movement.  Twice  wounded 
myself,  he  was  about  the  first  at  my  side  on  both  occasions.  He  was  not 
touched,  himself,  though  a  small  bush  was  cut  off  between  us  as  we  talked. 
The  rest  of  that  disastrous  affair  you  know.  The  enemy's  fire  increased 
as  their  reinforcements  continued  to  arrive.  For  us  there  could  be  no 
reinforcements,  and  it  was  almost  certain  death  to  bring  up  ammunition. 
Company  A  made  a  gallant  charge  on  the  left,  pushing  back  the  enemy's 
flankers  upon  the  main  body,  but  was  there  enveloped  by  an  entire  regi- 
ment (8th  Virginia)  and  its  men  mostly  killed  or  captured.  When  I 
was  at  last  personally  disabled,  it  was  Baker  himself  who  picked  me  up 
and  had  me  conveyed  to  the  boats.  It  was  their  last  trip.  Immediately 
afterwards,  Baker,  sword  in  hand  and  face  to  the  foe,  fell  dead,  and  after 
a  successful  counter-charge  to  bring  off  his  body,  our  troops  were  forced 
over  the  bluff  and  though  for  long  afterwards  a  desperate  resistance  was 
made  as  skirmishers,  their  cohesion  as  a  manageable  line  was  lost. 

Respecting  the  object  and  results  of  that  movement  I  venture  neither 
statement  nor  opinion,  preferring  to  confine  myself  to  the  undisputed 
facts  connected  with  Baker's  untimely  death.  No  superior  officer 


THE  DEATH  OF  COLONEL  BAKER  29 

admitted  any  responsibility  for  the  crossing  in  force,  nor  did  Baker  ever 
distinctly  assert  it.  Knowing  his  ardent  zeal  and  impatience  of  delay, 
we  can  only  infer  that  some  fatal  misunderstanding  occurred  on  the 
occasion  of  that  one  hasty  interview  between  the  Division  and  Brigade 
Commanders,  of  which  there  is  now  no  survivor. 

But  in  looking  back  to  those  stirring  events,  whatever  we  may  think 
of  the  plan  or  object  of  that  enterprise,  none  ever  doubted  Baker's  signal 
coolness  and  gallantry  on  the  field  of  battle.  His  courage  kindled,  as  he 
saw  the  end  approach  and  knew  it  must  be  disastrous.  Several  incidents 
during  the  heat  of  the  action  showed  that  he  fully  understood  the  situation. 
One  of  his  remarks  was,  "The  officer  who  dies  with  his  men  will  never  be 
harshly  judged." 

After  it  seemed  to  both  of  us  that  ruin  was  certain,  in  response  to  a 
remark  that  a  quick  and  easy  death  was  now  the  best  thing  left  us,  he 
quickly  replied :  "The  bullets  are  seeking  for  you,  but  avoid  me."  That 
generous  and  noble  heart,  sympathetic  with  all  around  him  and  resolved 
on  duty  to  the  last,  had  abandoned  hope  and  calmly  waited  for  the  stroke 
which  alone  should  separate  him  from  his  men.  It  was  after  the  hostile 
fire  had  enveloped  three  sides  of  your  position  and  no  manoeuvre  was 
possible.  Fresh  ammunition  could  no  longer  be  brought  up,  and  except 
surrender,  of  which  no  one  thought,  nothing  remained  but  the  exaction  of 
all  and  more  than  it  was  worth  for  the  position  no  longer  tenable.  But 
I  believe  that  you  who  are  the  survivors  of  that  and  many  another  bloody 
field  will  agree  that  even  if  Baker  had  lived  till  the  last  man,  such  was  the 
affection  and  confidence  he  had  inspired,  he  would  have  continued  to  hold 
your  line  firmly  while  there  remained  a  soldier  to  mark  it  and  a  cartridge 
to  fire. 

How  his  heart  would  have  swelled  and  his  eye  kindled  could  he  in  his 
last  moments  have  forseen  the  future  career  of  the  regiment  he  loved  so 
well — that  it  was  destined  to  stand  the  peer  of  any  in  the  glorious  Second 
Corps;  to  cover  the  retreat  of  Pope's  routed  columns  from  Manassas, 
charge  Jackson's  veterans  rt  Antietam;  receive  on  its  steady  bayonets 
the  shock  of  Pickett  at  Gettsyburg,  and  that,  after  blazoning  on  its  stand- 
ard the  historic  names  of  th<  Peninsula,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville, 
Spottsylvania  and  innumc  ible  minor  fights,  it  should,  after  the  ac- 
knowledged expiration  of  is  term  and  before  reenlistment,  volunteer 
at  the  call  of  its  corps  comrv-mder  to  assault  the  works  at  Cold  Harbor, 
where  you  lost  100  men  actually  ordered  home  for  discharge;  and  finally, 
that  of  the  2200  soldiers  who  from  first  to  last  fought  under  your  flag,  1 19 
was  the  remnant  for  the  last  muster  out.  That  look  into  the  future  was 
denied  him.  But  who  shall  say  that  during  those  after  years  his  memory, 
precept  and  example  were  not  mustered  under  your  flag  when  it  led  the 
advance  and  cheered  the  last  moments  of  dying  comrades  who  fell  out 
of  your  ranks  forever,  in  the  shock  of  battle? 

In  the  sacredness  of  our  common  memories,  I  remain  your  friend  and 
comrade, 

I.  J.  WISTAK. 

Philadelphia,  April  12th,  1887. 


30  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

The  second  battalion,  under  Parish,  being  on  picket  duty 
at  a  distance,  it  was  only  the  first  battalion  of  eight  companies 
and  570  men  of  all  ranks  that  participated  in  this  affair.  Of 
the  305  returned  as  killed,  wounded  and  missing — being  fifty- 
four  per  cent  of  the  number  engaged — it  is  fair  to  add  there 
was  no  'straggling/  the  'missing'  being  all  killed,  drowned 
or  captured,  many  of  the  last  being  wounded. 

The  higher  military  authorities  seemed  to  regard  this  small 
but  disastrous  affair  as  merely  incidental  to  the  first  employ- 
ment on  a  large  scale  of  raw  troops  and  inexperienced  officers, 
and  have  observed  respecting  it,  as  far  as  possible,  a  discreet 
silence.  But  the  public  heart  was  deeply  stirred,  and  the  news- 
paper press  and  minor  writers  have  poured  forth  volumes  of 
criticism,  generally  rather  political  or  personal,  than  military. 
Baker's  gallant  death  having  tended — as  he  foresaw  on  the 
field  of  battle — to  exempt  his  memory,  much  industry  and 
ingenuity  has  been  exerted  to  fasten  the  responsibility  upon 
Stone,  but  in  my  judgment  with  little  success.  Much  ma- 
terial has  been  collected  and  discussed  with  feeling  by  Mr. 
John  D.  Baltz,  a  gallant  young  soldier  of  the  71st  present  at 
the  action,  in  a  volume  entitled  "Col.  E.  D.  Baker's  defense 
in  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  with  biographical  sketches  of  Baker, 
Wistar  and  Stone,"  published  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  1888.  Mr. 
Baltz,  sensible  like  others  of  a  grave  and  disastrous  error  some- 
where, has  displayed  much  industry  in  collecting  everything 
to  be  said  on  that  side.  The  kind  manner  in  which  he  has  spoken 
of  myself,  renders  criticism  of  his  earnestly  written  work  so 
disagreeable  to  me  that  I  content  myself  with  saying  that  I 
cannot  agree  with  his  conclusions. 

The  absence  of  all  co-operation  in  other  quarters,  and  of  any 
preparation  for  a  general  advance  at  that  time,  is  conclusive 
evidence  that  no  such  purpose  was  in  the  mind  of  any  high  or 
controlling  authority.  There  is  no  occasion  for  and  can  be  no 
success  in  searching  for  any  concealed  or  other  object  than 
that  plainly  indicated  by  all  the  orders  received  or  issued  by 
Stone.  It  was  simply  for  the  purpose  of  extricating  the  small 
scouting-party  sent  across  the  previous  evening — since  no  other 


SOMEONE  HAD  BLUNDERED  31 

is  conceivable — that  Stone  ordered  down  a  single  battalion 
and  a  few  guns,  and  the  details  were  naturally  left  to  the  Brig- 
adier commanding  on  the  spot.  An  obvious  way  to  perform 
the  duty  would  have  been  to  place  a  small  infantry  force  on  the 
island,  which  being  two  miles  long,  offered  positions  from 
whence  a  moderate  musketry  fire  could  easily  keep  clear  the 
top  of  the  bluff  from  which  alone  the  enemy's  fire  could  reach 
our  troops  retiring  across  the  river;  while  a  few  guns  placed 
in  position  on  the  Maryland  side  would  not  only  aid  the  opera- 
tion, but  effectually  protect  the  return  of  the  covering  force 
from  the  island.  For  such  a  small  and  simple  operation  the 
available  boat  capacity  was  sufficient,  and  no  considerable 
loss  could  possibly  have  occurred.  But  to  cross  a  force  of 
several  hundred  men  with  boat  capacity  inadequate  for  ad- 
vance and  absurdly  insufficient  for  retreat,  upon  a  permissive 
and  discretionary  order  wrung  with  difficulty  from  a  superior, 
five  miles  distant,  indicates  that  Baker  thought  he  saw  an  op- 
portunity to  strike  a  blow  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify 
the  excessive  risk  incurred.  In  that,  he  was  terribly  mistaken, 
as  was  discovered  too  late  when  in  presence  of  a  largely  superior 
force  already  in  position.  From  that  moment,  though  a  dif- 
ferent disposition  of  the  troops  engaged  might  have  prolonged 
a  useless  conflict,  nothing  under  existing  circumstances  could 
have  extricated  them  but  an  advance  by  Stone  with  a  large 
force  from  Edward's  Ferry.  But  such  advance  by  Stone  on  the 
right  bank  separated  from  assistance  or  retreat  by  an  impassable 
river  a  mile  wide,  was  opposed  to  every  sound  principle,  wholly 
beyond  the  tenor  of  his  orders,  and  even  if  it  should  not  in- 
volve further  and  more  important  loss,  could  at  best  result  only 
in  a  series  of  detached,  disorderly  and  piecemeal  fights  much 
more  likely  to  bring  disaster  than  success,  and  even  if  successful, 
must  have  forced  most  injuriously  the  hand  of  the  General-in- 
Chief,  who  did  not  expect,  and  was  unprepared  for  anything  more 
important  than  the  mere  reconnoissance  he  had  authorized. 

Baker  himself  would  have  been  the  last  man  to  excuse — 
by  seeking  to  cast  upon  another — the  original  error  of  cross- 
ing in  force  without  proper  means  provided  and  an  explicit 


32  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLK  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

understanding  with  his  superior;  nor  is  any  necessity  laid  upon 
his  friends  to  do  so,  since  the  error — if  his— was  at  least  of  an 
heroic  character,  and  as  he  'died  with  his  men,'  all  parties  have 
dealt  kindly  with  his  memory. 

General  Stone  was  an  educated  officer  of  high  standing  in 
the  army,  from  which  he  had  formerly  resigned,  like  Sherman,  to 
operate  a  bank  in  San  Francisco — where  I  had  known  him  well — 
but  returned  to  the  service  at  the  first  outbreak  of  war.  A  cir- 
cumstance of  a  personal  nature  which  had  occurred  not  long  before 
this  affair,  may  serve  to  shed  a  ray  of  light  on  the  otherwise  in- 
explicable mystery  of  the  persecutions  which  befell  him.  The 
Senator  (Charles  Sumner)  of  Massachusetts  had  denounced  and 
even  accused  him  of  treason  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  for  refusing 
in  obedience  to  the  laws  and  orders  then  prevailing,  to  encourage 
the  flight  into  his  lines  of  fugitive  slaves,  who  in  fact  tended 
to  demoralize  the  new  troops  nearly  as  much  as  to  disorganize  the 
susceptibilities  of  the  Washington  politicians.  Contrary  to  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  Stone  felt  it  necessary  to  resent  the  out- 
rage in  the  only  way  open  to  him,  by  a  challenge,  and  as  Sumner 
was  deemed  slippery  in  such  matters,  having  notoriously  evaded 
several,  at  the  expense  of  a  caning  or  two,  the  General  chose  for 
his  second  Lord  Ernest  Vane  Tempest,  a  younger  son  of  the 
Marquis  of  Londonderry,  and  a  captain  in  the  British  Army,  who, 
having  obtained  leave  of  absence  for  the  purpose,  entered  our  serv- 
ice in  the  Adjutant-General's  Department,  and  was  then  serving 
on  Stone's  staff  under  his  family  name  of  Stewart.  This  wild 
Irishman  cared  nothing  for  his  American  commission  and  readily 
undertook  to  carry  the  message  and  get  a  definite  reply.  For  this 
purpose  he  forced  his  way  into  Sumner's  apartment,  not  without 
some  violence  to  the  latter's  well-trained  servant,  and  delivered 
the  note  personally  with  an  intimation  of  its  purport.  The  Sena- 
tor, pleading  other  occupation,  tried  to  put  him  off  with  promises 
to  reply  by  letter  at  a  more  convenient  time,  but  Stewart  was  not 
to  be  deceived  or  cajoled,  and  insisted  on  receiving  an  immediate 
reply  or  taking  the  difficulty  on  himself.  A  wordy  squabble  en- 
sued in  which  Stewart  obtained  a  written  answer  under  threats  of 
personal  castigation,  but  the  Hon.  gentleman  thus  summarily 


QENEKAL  STONE  UNJUSTLY  ACCUSED  33 

brought  to  book,  nursed  his  wrath,  and  seized  upon  the  occasion 
offered  by  the  Ball's  Bluff  catastrophe  to  direct  political  and 
newspaper  obloquy  upon  Stone,  who,  fully  occupied  in  front  of  the 
enemy,  possessed  no  adequate  means  of  influencing  opinion  in  his 
own  favor.  As  soon  after  the  fight  as  public  indignation  had 
been  sufficiently  worked  up,  he  was  arrested  without  charges,  and 
thrown  into  prison,  where  for  months  he  was  refused  any  com- 
munication with  counsel,  family  or  friends,  and  after  being  released 
as  mysteriously  and  without  explanation  as  he  had  been  confined, 
he  spent  years  in  vainly  endeavoring  to  obtain  the  name  of  his 
accuser  or  any  definite  charge  against  himself.  All  explanation  or 
employment  was  denied  him  till  near  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he 
was  at  last  assigned  as  bear  leader  to  the  military  mountebank 
who  for  his  country's  sins  conducted  its  disastrous  campaign 
on  Red  River.  After  the  war  he  became  chief  of  staff  to  the 
Khedive  of  Egypt,  whom  he  served  with  distinction  for  many 
years  until  the  English  conquest  of  that  country,  when  he  returned 
to  America  and  soon  after  died. 

Stewart  reached  the  battlefield  with  despatches  from  Stone, 
in  the  hottest  part  of  the  action  and  foreseeing  the  inevitable 
catastrophe,  chose  to  remain  there.  He  rendered  much  useful 
aid,  and  remained  till  after  dark,  when  he  swam  the  river  and 
escaped  without  a  scratch. 

Capt.  Frederick  Harvey,  A.  A.  G.  on  Baker's  staff,  was 
another  British  officer  who  had  entered  our  service  under  leave 
of  absence  from  his  own.  He  was  an  accomplished  and  gallant 
officer,  and  with  Stewart  and  Col.  Cogswell  of  the  42d  New  York, 
who  was  present  as  a  volunteer  with  one  company  of  his  regiment, 
gave  valuable  aid  in  serving  the  twelve-pound  gun,  whose  proper 
crew  had  been  killed  or  dispersed,  till  it  was  disabled  by  having 
the  spokes  shot  from  the  wheels  by  the  enemy's  musketry  fire. 
Notwithstanding  the  concentrated  fire  drawn  upon  this  gun, 
not  one  of  us  was  touched  by  bullets,  though  we  were  all  more 
or  less  scratched  and  hurt  by  splinters  shot  from  its  carriage. 
Harvey,  after  leading  several  small  but  resolute  charges  after  dark 
to  keep  possession  of  the  bluff  and  landing-place,  was  killed  late 
at  night  and  his  body  left  in  possession  of  the  enemy  for  want 


34  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF 

of  means  to  bring  it  off.  Only  a  few  days  before  his  death,  while 
riding  together  on  a  long  and  weary  night-march,  he  had  re- 
peated with  patriotic  feeling  those  fine  lines  which  always 
recall  him  to  my  memory: 

Vain  all  those  ships  of  iron  framed, 

Vain  all  those  shattering  guns, 
Unless  proud  England  keep  untamed 

The  strong  hearts  of  her  sons. 

Two  of  the  most  promising  officers  of  the  71st,  killed  on  this 
occasion,  were  Capt.  Otter  and  Lieut.  Williams,  both  energetic 
and  capable  young  men,  whose  gallantry  attracted  my  attention 
and  who  would  almost  certainly  have  risen  to  distinction. 

My  personal  experience  was  not  fortunate  except  in  so  far 
as  I  escaped  worse.  Early  in  the  action  I  was  struck  in  the 
jaw  by  a  bullet  or  a  small  stone  dashed  up  by  one.  Though  the 
injury  did  not  eventually  amount  to  much,  it  caused  severe  pain 
and  loss  of  blood  which  became  matted  in  the  beard,  and  dripping 
down  in  front,  rendered  me  a  ferocious  and  unpleasant  object 
to  behold,  as  I  have  since  been  assured.  Later  a  bullet  passed 
through  my  thigh  within  a  short  distance  of  the  old  arrow  wound, 
suffered  years  before  in  the  upper  Klamath  country.  This  though 
but  a  flesh  wound,  filled  my  boot  with  blood  so  that  I  was 
obliged  to  cut  a  hole  to  let  it  out.  Just  before  dark,  while 
endeavoring  to  change  front  with  the  two  left  companies  to  repel 
a  charge  on  that  flank,  I  was  struck  hi  the  right  elbow  by  a 
ball  that  shattered  all  three  of  the  bones  meeting  at  that  point, 
causing  a  momentary  mental  confusion  and  even  suspension  of 
sight.  Though  I  could  not  see  my  sword,  I  stooped  to  recover  it 
from  the  place  where  I  knew  it  had  fallen,  and  having  gathered  it 
up  along  with  a  handful  of  bloody  grass,  had  just  regained  the 
perpendicular,  when  I  was  seized  by  Baker  with  a  hand  on  each 
shoulder.  "What,  Wistar,  hit  again?"  "Yes,  I  am  afraid  badly 
this  time."  Then  sheathing  for  me  the  sword  at  my  request,  he 
called  a  soldier:  "Here,  my  man,  catch  hold  of  Col.  Wistar  and 
get  him  to  the  boat  somehow,  if  you  have  to  carry  him."  The 
words  were  his  last.  I  hastily  communicated  the  importance  of 
what  I  had  been  engaged  in  and  he  sprang  forward  to  complete  the 


BURIED  BY  THE  SHORES  OF  THE  FAR  PACIFIC  35 

work.  About  the  same  time,  the  enemy's  charging  column,  which 
I  had  seen  leave  their  main  line  for  the  usual  circuit  through  the 
woods,  appeared  over  the  rising  ground  on  the  left,  fired  a 
volley  and  rushed  in.  Baker  fell  to  that  volley,  being  struck 
by  several  bullets,  one  of  which  pierced  his  brain.  The  charge 
was  repelled  for  a  moment,  and  a  counter-charge  led  by  Harvey 
recovered  the  body,  but  the  gallant  soldier,  the  generous  friend, 
the  matchless  orator,  was  lost  to  us  and  his  country  forever. 

Though  for  such  a  short  time  in  the  great  national  arena 
at  Washington,  his  celebrated  Union  oration  in  New  York, 
in  April,  followed  by  two  eloquent  speeches  in  the  Senate,  had 
fairly  introduced  him  to  the  country,  and  his  heroic  death  on  a 
field  lost  but  not  dishonored,  thrilled  the  entire  North,  not 
yet  accustomed  to  such  spectacles.  Not  long  before,  the  rest  of 
the  world  had  laughed,  and  our  own  people  were  mortified  if  not 
disheartened,  by  the  disorderly  rout  of  Bull  Run,  and  held  their 
breath  in  dread  anticipation  of  the  next  encounter.  But  here 
had  been  no  disorder,  no  panic,  no  flight,  no  Bull  Run  affair. 
Our  soldiers'  fighting  qualities,  at  least,  were  now  assured.  A 
small  body  gallantly  led  had  been  by  someone's  error  surrounded 
by  superior  force,  in  fact  ambushed  in  an  untenable  position,  and 
though  ultimately  cut  to  pieces  and  destroyed,  had  long  defended 
itself  with  perfect  order  and  unflinching  courage,  inflicting 
damage  little  inferior  to  its  own,  till  it  had  suffered  a  loss  of 
fifty-four  per  cent  of  its  number,  including  nearly  all  the  officers, 
and  their  gallant  leader.  While,  therefore,  the  friends  of  the 
slain  received  universal  sympathy,  to  the  general  public  the 
disaster  was  tempered  with  a  certain  proud  repose  of  feeling 
hitherto  unknown  since  the  intense  mortification  of  July. 

The  body  of  the  dead  hero  so  gallantly  snatched  from  the 
enemy  by  his  slain  chief  of  staff,  was  carried  from  city  to  city, 
lying  everywhere  in  state,  and  visited  by  vast  crowds  at  each, 
as  it  passed  slowly  across  the  continent  heralded  and  accompanied 
by  continuous  strains  of  funeral  music  to  the  last  resting-place, 
where  it  still  reposes,  by  the  shores  of  the  far  Pacific. 


36  THE  DISASTROUS  BATTLE  OP  BALL'S  BLUFF 

To  his  friend  in  peace  and  right  arm  in  battle 
this  tribute  is  presented  by  his  brother, 

A.  C.  BAKEB,  M.D. 

Surgeon  71et  Regt.  Pa.  Vols. 

'Twas  a  calm  October  morning, 
Long  before  the  East  was  gray, 

That  our  Chief  received  the  order 
Straight  to  marshall  the  array. 

Lightly  from  his  narrow  war-couch 
Gaily  up  the  Hero  sprung, 

Cheerful  as  if  called  to  banquet, 
Or  to  join  the  festive  throng. 

Promptly  was  each  order  given, 
And  before  the  morn  was  light, 

His  beloved  and  own  battalion 
Proudly  marched  to  find  the  fight. 

As  he  started,  I  addressed  him, — 
"Brother,  brother,  mind  today 

You  but  do  a  General's  duty, 
Do  not  seek  the  thickest  fray. 

"Think  how  much  the  country  needs  you, 

Think  your  life  is  not  your  own, 
Do  not  seek  the  hottest  battle, 
Do  not  venture  forth  alone!" 

"If  the  day  goes  lightly  with  us, 
If  I  deem  the  field  our  own, 
I'll  but  do  a  General's  duty, — 
Wistar  leads  the  column  on. 

"But  if  overborne  by  numbers, 
We  are  like  to  lose  the  day, 
If  my  own  battalion  falters 
In  the  fury  of  the  fray; 

"Should  I  lose  my  valiant  right  arm, 

If  by  rebel  steel  or  ball 
'Mid  the  smoke  and  shock  of  battle 

Gallant  Wistar  chance  to  fall; 


VEHSES  BY  A.  C.  BAKER 

"Then  my  own,  the  Senate's  honor, 

Western  lands  and  Keystone  State 
Tell  to  me  a  General's  duty 
Is  to  dare  a  soldier's  fate! 

"They  are  trained  to  move  like  veterans 

And  like  veterans  they  shall  fight, 
Never  while  I  live  to  lead  them, 
Shall  they  turn  their  backs  in  flight! 

"With  the  cold  and  silent  bayonet 

I  will  lead  our  freemen  on; 
Others  then  will  tell  the  story 
How  the  day  is  lost  or  won." 

Vaulting  on  his  tall  bay  charger 
With  a  smile  serene  and  bright, 

Thus  my  gifted,  gallant  brother 
Rode  to  that  unequal  fight. 

My  brother,  Oh,  my  brother! 

Brother  that  I  loved  so  well, — 
Other  pens  must  trace  the  story 

How  you  fought  and  how  you  fell! 


37 


National  Cemetery  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Virginia. 

The  stake  marks  the  spot  where  General  Baker  fell. 

Drawn  by  Frank  H.  Taylor. 


CHAPTER  III 

SKIRMISHES  AND   THE  BATTLE   OP  ANTIETAM 

Since  these  pages  claim  no  higher  purpose  than  a  personal 
narrative,  some  further  particulars  of  my  individual  casualties 
in  the  late  affair  may  be  allowable.  My  soldier  stuck  faith- 
fully to  me  and  with  such  aid  as  he  could  summon,  led  and 
carried  me  down  the  bluff  and  did  not  leave  me  till  he  had  waded 
waist-deep  into  the  river  and  deposited  me  sore,  blood-soaked  and 
fainting  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  row-boat,  now  the  only  craft 
plying  to  Harrison's  Island,  the  scow  having  already  sunk.  Here 
with  feet  dragging  in  the  water,  I  was  held  in  place  by  an  Irish- 
man wounded  in  the  legs,  who  kept  me  hugged  close  in  both  arms 
exclaiming,  "No  fear  for  ye,  Kornel;  I'll  hold  ye  fast  or  we'll 
both  go  over  together,  jist."  At  the  island  I  was  deposited  in  a 
farm-yard  filled  with  wounded  and  dying  men,  ranged  around  the 
enclosure  with  heads  to  the  fence,  where  our  excellent  Surgeon 
Dwinelle  soon  made  my  condition  easier  by  administering  stimu- 
lants and  tying  up  my  arm  in  some  skillful  way,  so  as  to  avoid  the 
unspeakable  agony  of  the  grating  ends  of  the  fractured  bones. 
While  engaged  at  this  work,  a  rifle  bullet  flying  clear  of  our  men  on 
the  bluff  and  just  missing  the  Surgeon,  struck  a  fence-rail  within 
a  foot  of  my  head,  filling  my  eyes  with  rotten  wood.  As  this  was 
more  than  the  Surgeon  had  enlisted  for,  I  begged  him  to  leave  me 
and  retire  to  a  safer  place,  to  which  he  gallantly  replied,  "No, 
I  have  always  obeyed  you,  before  but  you  are  under  my  orders 
now  and  I  am  not  going  to  leave  you  till  you  are  in  safe  condition 
to  send  off  to  camp."  The  fact  was  that  this  field-hospital  had 
been  under  similar  fire  all  day,  and  some  of  the  wounded  had 
actually  been  killed  in  the  Doctor's  hands,  but  neither  Surgeon  nor 
assistant  had  flinched,  remaining  hard  at  work  till  far  into  the 

38 


RECOVERING    FROM  THREE  WOUNDS  39 

night,  sending  off  their  patients  as  fast  as  they  could  be  tem- 
porarily recovered  enough  for  the  purpose;  and  most  of  the 
supposed  wounded  remaining,  had  already  departed  for  a  land 
where  no  surgeon  is  needed.  In  due  tune  I  was  carried  across  the 
Maryland  branch  of  the  river,  placed  on  a  stretcher  and  carried 
two  miles  by  men  of  our  second  battalion,  who  declined  assistance 
from  the  large  force  now  assembled,  and  deposited  me  in  a  small 
house  near  the  regimental  camp.  Here  I  lay  nine  weeks,  during 
most  of  which  time  it  was  not  practicable  even  to  change  the 
sheets.  The  flesh  wounds  soon  closed,  and  even  the  elbow  mostly 
healed  over  but  afterwards  had  to  be  laid  open  by  a  severe  and 
painful  operation  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  pieces  of  bone 
and  lead  inadvertently  missed  at  the  first  dressings.  It  was 
after  this  operation,  as  I  understood,  that  the  more  serious  feature 
of  the  case  appeared.  First  my  life,  and  later  the  arm,  was 
claimed  by  such  medical  wisdom  as  could  be  assembled  in  judg- 
ment, but  they  were  ultimately  induced  to  relent  and  leave  me  in 
possession  of  both.  Maggots  appeared  in  the  wound,  and  though 
occasionally  removed  in  considerable  quantity,  derived  more  en- 
joyment than  they  afforded  me,  pasturing  and  disporting  them- 
selves up  and  down  the  feeding  ground  so  providentially  supplied 
them.  Finally,  as  it  became  evident  that  I  was  to  suffer  anchy- 
losis of  the  principal  joints,  the  arm  was  fixed  in  the  position 
and  at  the  angle  it  has  ever  since  retained,  and  one  of  my  faithful 
surgeons  aided  by  a  small  detail,  carried  me  home  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  I  was  placed  in  my  father's  house  just  in  time  for 
the  Christmas  festivities. 

I  soon  learned  to  write  with  the  left  hand  and  continued 
to  do  so  until  the  left  arm  was  injured  and  partly  paralyzed 
by  a  wound  received  later  at  Antietam,  when  I  perforce  returned 
to  the  use  of  the  right  hand.  Though  the  fingers  are  perma- 
nently fixed  in  a  position  but  slightly  bent  and  cannot  be  closed, 
this  remains  on  the  whole  the  most  useful  hand,  and  by  using 
a  thick-handled  pen,  and  keeping  extended  all  the  fingers  except 
the  index,  answers  reasonably  well  for  writing.  Though  the 
practical  loss  of  the  right  arm  by  anchylosis  of  all  joints  below 
the  shoulder,  including  fingers,  is,  as  I  can  from  long  experi- 


40  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE    BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

ence  aver,  an  irreparable  one,  often  entailing  privations  at 
times  and  places  least  looked  for,  yet  apart  from  constant  petty 
inconveniences,  one  of  the  most  regretful  to  me  has  been  the 
deprivation  of  riding,  always  before  one  of  my  chiefest  pleasures. 
It  is  hard  for  one  fond  of  a  high-spirited  horse  to  come  down 
to  a  plain  animal  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  an  infirm  rider, 
and  yet  if  anyone  will  try  the  experiment  of  putting  the  right 
hand  in  his  pocket,  and  binding  the  left  elbow  to  the  body,  he 
will  soon  be  convinced  that  the  free  use  of  at  least  one  arm  is 
required  to  ride  with  pleasure,  comfort,  or  even  safety.  I  have 
been  twice  run  away  with  while  reviewing  strange  troops,  who  no 
doubt  attributed  the  exhibition  to  another  cause;  have  repeatedly 
had  to  accept  the  aid  of  staff  officers  and  orderlies,  and  suffered 
so  many  minor  accidents  and  mortifications,  that  after  the  war  I 
was  constrained  to  abandon  riding  entirely. 

While  lying  ill  near  Poolesville,  before  my  physical  condi- 
tion was  at  the  worst,  I  was  reminded  of  the  prisoners  sent 
to  the  rear  by  Markoe's  company.  These  were  a  Lieut.  Berry  and 
two  or  three  men  of  his  regiment,  the  8th  Virginia.  A  day  or 
two  after  the  action,  I  therefore  sent  for  the  officer,  who  in 
the  prevailing  gloom  and  disorganization,  had  been  thus  far 
detained  in  the  regimental  guard  quarters,  and  about  dark  he  came 
into  my  bedroom  in  a  state  of  just  indignation  at  having  had  his 
amis  secured  by  a  slight  ligature  at  the  elbows.  In  reply  to  my 
indignant  looks,  the  young  officer  of  the  guard  explained  that  he 
could  not  endure  the  risk  of  our  only  prisoner  getting  away  while 
in  his  charge,  and  as  it  was  necessary  to  bring  him  a  considerable 
distance  through  thick  and  dark  woods  with  but  one  assistant,  he 
had  ventured  to  resort  to  this  precaution  though  the  prisoner  had 
been  scrupulously  well  treated  in  other  respects — as  indeed  he 
admitted.  No  doubt  I  should  have  ordered  the  bonds  removed 
unconditionally  and  immediately,  but  since  the  indignity  was  an 
accomplished  fact,  I  hastily  and  improperly  offered  to  have  the 
bonds  off  if  he  would  give  his  parole  not  to  attempt  escape  till 
delivered  at  Division  Headquarters.  This  was  done  and  I  thought 
no  more  of  the  circumstance  for  some  days,  when  Gen.  Stone  paid 
me  a  visit  and  remarked  that  he  had  received  a  flag  of  truce  from 


SERVING  UNDER  GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGWICK  41 

the  Confederate  Gen.  Beauregard,  sent  partly  for  the  courteous 
purpose  of  conveying  some  papers  found  in  Gen.  Baker's  over- 
coat left  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  partly  to  complain  of  me  for  the 
above  violation  of  the  rights  of  a  prisoner  of  war.  It  seemed 
that  Berry  had  been  sent  to  Washington  and  confined  in  the  Old 
Capital  prison,  from  which  he  had  escaped  by  letting  himself 
down  one  stormy  night  from  an  upper  story  by  strips  of  blanket, 
successfully  evaded  the  sentinels,  swam  the  Potomac,  and  re- 
turned to  his  command.  I  was  of  course  properly  mortified  and 
self-rebuked  at  the  just  construction  thus  placed  on  the  condition 
I  had  thoughtlessly  imposed,  but  Stone  said  he  had  already  ex- 
plained the  circumstances  and  offered  sufficient  verbal  reparation 
on  my  behalf. 

About  the  end  of  October,  Brig.-Gen.  Wm.  W.  Burns  of  the 
regular  army,  an  agreeable  gentleman,  and  one  of  the  most  able 
and  judicious  brigade  commanders  of  the  army,  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  our  brigade,  and  from  that  auspicious  event  dated  the 
scientific  perfection  of  discipline,  drill  and  esprit  which  was 
soon  to  render  it  a  model  of  efficiency,  and  give  it  distinction 
even  among  the  veterans  of  the  far-famed  Second  Corps,  which 
notwithstanding  its  innumerable  fights,  victories  and  defeats, 
proudly  boasted  that  it  had  'never  lost  a  color  or  a  gun'  till 
the  bloody,  and  to  it,  well-nigh  fatal  campaign  of  1864.  In 
January  I  rejoined  the  regiment  with  a  number  of  Philadelphia 
recruits,  and  soon  after,  the  71st  was  reorganized  into  an  ordinary 
ten-company  regiment,  for  which  the  recent  destruction  of  offi- 
cers furnished  the  opportunity.  General  John  Sedgwick  suc- 
ceeded Stone  as  Division  Commander,  and  General  E.  V.  Sumner 
took  command  of  the  Second  Corps;  both  officers  whose  well-won 
reputations  now  and  henceforth  belong  to  the  general  history  of 
the  country. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  Sedgwick's  Division  left  its  can- 
tonment near  Poolesville  and  marched  in  support  of  Bank's 
Corps  then  moving  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley  against  Jackson. 
The  route  was  by  Sandy  Hook  to  Harper's  Ferry,  where  the  Poto- 
mac was  crossed  on  pontoons,  and  thence  by  Bolivar  Heights  and 
Charleston  to  Berryville.  Jackson  having  declined  battle  and 


42  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE    BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

retired  from  Winchester  before  Bank's  advance,  the  Division 
returned  to  Harper's  Ferry,  where  it  took  cars  for  Washington 
and  marched  thence  without  delay  to  Alexandria  to  take  trans- 
ports for  the  Peninsula.  March  28th,  Burns'  Brigade  embarked 
for  Fortress  Monroe,  the  71st  and  part  of  the  69th  being  crowded 
into  a  steamer  which  also  towed  behind  it  some  large  barges  con- 
veying the  men,  horses  and  guns  of  a  battery  of  artillery.  On  the 
second  day  a  heavy  gale  of  wind  with  thick  snow  rendered  in- 
visible everything  outside  the  vessel,  and  as  the  captain  could 
only  feel  his  way  slowly  by  compass  and  lead,  there  was  much 
danger  of  collision  with  the  barges  in  tow,  or  with  some  of  the 
numerous  fleet  of  transports,  which  must  have  occasioned  a 
large  loss  of  life.  Under  the  circumstances,  I  ordered  the  steamer 
and  her  tow  into  the  nearest  harbor  accessible,  where  we  lay 
one  night  at  anchor,  the  whole  voyage  thus  occupying  four  days. 
The  4th  and  5th  of  April  were  consumed  by  the  march  of 
the  army  in  two  columns  to  Yorktown,  where  it  was  confronted  by 
the  enemy  under  Magruder,  whose  fortified  lines  extended  across 
the  peninsula,  reinforced  by  a  number  of  closed  works  of  strength 
and  importance.  During  the  famous  siege  that  followed,  the  rain 
fell  daily,  almost  without  exception,  the  roads  were  impassable, 
and  while  part  of  the  army  was  employed  in  developing  the 
enemy's  works  and  batteries  by  strong  reconnoissances,  a  still 
larger  part  was  necessarily  occupied  in  constructing  corduroy 
roadways  along  our  line,  to  render  possible  the  prompt  inter- 
change of  guns  and  troops.  The  71st  had  its  share  in  both  kinds 
of  work,  and  I  had  the  honor  to  command  one  of  the  reconnois- 
sances, which  was  the  first  occasion  that  I  found  myself  entrusted 
with  two  regiments.  The  movement  was  to  escort  an  engineer 
officer,  and  cover  his  observations  of  the  hostile  works  and  posi- 
tions. As  it  rained  all  day,  the  engineer  sat  on  his  horse  so  well- 
enveloped  in  a  large  cloak  that  little  was  generally  to  be  seen 
of  him  but  his  spectacles.  We  blundered  twice  under  the  enemy's 
infantry  fire  and  lost  a  man  or  two,  which  I  was  not  allowed 
to  reciprocate,  but  on  the  contrary  backed  out  so  quickly  under 
the  Major's  directions,  that  in  my  ignorance  I  formed  a  private 
opinion  by  no  means  favorable  to  his  enterprise.  The  ludicrous 


SENT  HOME  ILL  PBOM  YORKTOWN  43 

dimensions  of  that  error  will  be  best  understood  when  it  is  added 
that  the  officer  was  Major  A.  A.  Humphreys,  than  whom  no  soldier 
ever  knew  better  when  to  accept  and  when  to  decline  to  fight. 
When  he  later  assumed  command  of  troops,  he  at  once  took  and 
maintained  the  character  of  one  of  the  most  prompt  and  daring 
officers  of  the  whole  army,  without  in  the  least  sacrificing  the 
careful  and  orderly  methods  which  equally  distinguished  him 
when  conducting  a  petty  reconnoissance  at  Yorktown,  or  direct- 
ing as  chief  of  staff,  the  general  movements  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

Though  difficulties  of  communications  and  scarcity  of  sup- 
plies were  well  known  to  all  the  armies  in  the  civil  war,  no 
other  campaign  was  attended  with  more  privation,  sickness  and 
death  than  prevailed  in  the  muddy  trenches  at  Yorktown.  A 
thousand  pounds  or  less  was  a  good  load  for  a  six-mule  team,  and 
the  necessary  ammunition  and  other  military  stores  could  only  be 
distributed  at  the  front  by  a  corresponding  neglect  of  other 
pressing  necessities  of  the  soldier.  It  was  frequently  necessary 
to  march  a  regiment  several  miles  to  the  landing  to  carry  back  a 
few  days'  rations  on  their  own  backs.  The  result  of  hard  work, 
constant  exposure  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  with  inadequate  food 
was  wholesale  sickness;  which  kept  the  actual  strength  and  mobil- 
ity of  the  army  reduced  to  a  low  figure.  Bilious  and  malarial 
fevers,  with  diarrhea  and  typhoid  were  the  prevailing  forms  of 
disease,  and  during  the  month  of  April  caused  a  greater  loss  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  than  many  a  famous  and  hard-fought  battle 
of  later  date.  The  71st  lost  several  promising  young  officers  and 
many  men,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  siege  I  was  myself  attacked 
with  the  usual  typhoidal  symptoms,  and  after  vainly  trying  to 
resist  for  a  few  days,  on  the  day  before  the  troops  entered  the 
place,  was  carried  in  an  unconscious  condition  to  a  hospital-steamer 
lying  in  York  River,  a  few  miles  below. 

I  have  never  had  the  least  recollection  of  the  journey  or  arrival, 
and  my  first  intelligent  memory  of  what  transpired  on  the  steamer, 
is  my  capture  one  night  by  two  Sisters  of  Charity,  as,  after  escaping 
from  my  cot,  I  was  wandering  aimlessly  about  the  cabin.  They 
conducted  me  back  to  bed,  and  it  was  owing  mainly  to  their 


44  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

unremitting  and  charitable  care  that  I  at  last  reached  a  condition 
of  recovery  that  permitted  my  conveyance  home  in  a  small  detail  of 
convalescents,  where  I  was  a  second  time  safely  deposited  in  bed 
at  my  father's  house.  Here  a  relapse  occurred,  as  is  not  unusual 
in  such  cases;  all  knowledge  of  military  events  was  forbidden  me, 
and  it  was  only  after  a  long  and  severe  struggle  that  youth,  tem- 
perate habits  and  an  unsurpassed  constitution  carried  me  safely 
through,  though  with  the  loss  of  one-third  my  weight. 

As  soon  as  I  could  get  out  of  the  house,  I  embraced  the  oppor- 
tunity of  carrying  into  effect  a  certain  previous  engagement,  and 
was  married  on  the  9th  of  July,  1862,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  J.  Mor- 
ton, at  the  old  St.  James  Church  at  Seventh  and  St.  James 
Street,  to  Sarah  Toland,  second  daughter  of  Robert  and  Rebecca 
Toland,  both  previously  deceased;  a  union  which,  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  add,  has  been  crowned  with  every  happiness  that  can  be 
reasonably  expected  from  that  happy  relation.2 

It  was  not  till  the  army  had  fought  its  way  through  the  Seven 
Days'  Battles,  and  encamped  at  Harrison's  Landing  on  the  James, 
that  I  was  able  to  report  for  duty.  During  that  series  of  battles 
the  71st,  besides  minor  affairs,  had  been  twice  severely  engaged, 
first  at  Savage  Station,  where  the  brigade  by  a  decisive  repulse  of 
the  enemy  in  superior  force,  had  successfully  covered  the  crossing 
at  "White  Oak  swamp,  and  next  at  Nelson's  farm,  or  Glendale, 
on  an  occasion  of  historical  importance  to  the  army  and  the 
country.  The  two  corps  of  Longstreet  and  A.  P.  Hill,  debouching 
by  two  roads  against  the  flank  of  our  army  at  that  central  point, 
had  already  struck  and  demolished  McCalPs  Division,  capturing 
its  artillery  and  many  prisoners,  including  that  General  himself, 
when  it  encountered  Burns'  Brigade  hastily  put  in  place  and 
strengthened  by  the  19th  Massachusetts.  Burns  himself  has 
publicly  declared  that  with  this  force  of  five  regiments  he  checked 
and  held  the  30,000  men  of  those  victorious  columns  for  nearly  an 
hour,  and  until  troops  freshly  brought  up  rendered  that  vital 
point  secure.  Had  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — then  in  motion 
to  a  new  base  and  presenting  its  flank  to  the  enemy  on  a  line  twenty 

1  Mrs.  Wistar  died,  without  issue,  at  Philadelphia,  January  11, 1895. 


NOTABLE   ENGAGEMENTS   OF   THE   SEVENTY-FIRST  45 

miles  long,  with  its  rear  engaged  and  held  by  Jackson  at  White 
Oak  Swamp — been  cut  in  two  at  Glendale  without  connection 
either  with  its  old  or  new  base,  the  defeat  must  have  been  of  such  a 
ruinous  character  as  to  destroy  it  for  all  aggressive  purposes  at 
least. 

This  was  the  first  of  two  celebrated  occasions  when  it  fell  to  the 
lot  of  this  brigade  to  defend  successfully  the  center  of  the  same 
army  against  similar  efforts  to  cut  it  in  two,  and  defeat  it  in  detail. 
The  other  was  at  Gettysburg  where  the  celebrated  charge  of 
Pickett  first  fell  upon,  and  was  repulsed  by,  two  of  its  regiments — 
the  69th  and  71st.  The  losses  of  the  71st  in  the  Seven  Days' 
Battles  were  necessarily  heavy,  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  its  books 
and  baggage  on  the  abandonment  of  Savage  Station,  have  never 
been  separately  reported.  After  a  short  rest  at  Harrison's  Land- 
ing, the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  contrary  to  the  plans  and  wish 
of  its  commander,  was  hastily  recalled  to  Alexandria  by  the 
Government,  in  consequence  of  the  disasters  threatening  Gen. 
Pope  on  the  Rapidan.  On  the  29th  of  August,  Sedgwick's  Divi- 
sion marched  twenty  miles  to  Chain  Bridge,  on  false  information, 
and,  after  two  hours'  halt,  was  again  put  in  motion  toward  the 
heavy  firing  then  in  progress  near  the  old  field  of  Bull  Run.  At 
noon  on  the  31st,  after  a  march  of  forty  miles,  only  interrupted  by 
two  hours'  sleep,  it  reached  Centreville,  and  took  position  to  cover 
the  disastrous  defeat  and  flight  of  Pope,  whose  disorganized  regi- 
ments and  frightened  rabble,  was  passed  through  its  lines.  Sep- 
tember 1st,  Burns'  Brigade,  now  commanded  by  Gen.  O.  O. 
Howard,  in  consequence  of  Burns'  absence  from  a  severe  face- 
wound  received  at  Glendale,  made  a  reconnoissance  some  miles 
to  the  right,  where  the  71st  struck  and  engaged  the  flanking  regi- 
ments of  Lee's  army,  then  in  march  for  the  Potomac.  Here 
occurred  a  trifling  incident  not  without  interest  as  showing  the 
value  of  a  facetious  word  at  the  right  moment.  The  skirmish  line 
being  sharply  engaged  with  the  enemy  partly  sheltered  behind  a 
row  of  hay-stacks,  the  reserve,  held  ready  in  line,  came  under  a 
hot  fire  which  it  had  to  stand  and  endure  without  returning;  a 
condition  irksome  and  unsteadying  to  any  troops.  Having  left 
my  horse  in  a  safe  place — I  had  already  lost  three,  and  was  getting 


46  SKIRMISHES  AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

economical  of  horse-flesh — I  was  standing  with  the  reserve,  waiting 
for  the  proper  moment  to  use  it,  when  a  stout  young  recruit 
suddenly  dropped  his  musket,  and  pulled  up  his  foot  with  both 
hands  as  if  wounded.  A  glance  showed  that  a  ball  had  torn  open 
his  trousers  below  the  knee  without  hurting  him,  and  as  several 
men  were  already  laid  out,  and  the  reserve  was  evidently  not 
enjoying  its  position,  it  seemed  a  good  time  for  converting  the 
solemn  into  the  facetious,  which  was  done  by  a  single  remark: 
"Young  fellow,  a  bullet  never  hits  twice  in  the  same  place;  if  you 
will  take  off  those  trousers  I  will  give  you  ten  dollars  for  them." 
The  row  of  long  and  solemn  faces  relaxed  into  a  giggle,  and  the 
reserve  recovered  its  cheerfulness.  Its  firmness  had  never  been  in 
question.3 

At  night,  Sedgwick's  Division  having  been  assigned  as  rear- 
guard to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  routed  column  retiring  by  the 
left-hand  road — that  next  the  enemy — moved  off  after  dark  in 
the  discharge  of  what,  judging  by  that  night's  experience,  is  the 
most  arduous  of  all  military  duty.  The  71st,  with  Sully's  1st 
Minnesota,  had  the  honor  to  be  detached  by  Sedgwick  as  extreme 
Division  rearguard,  with  instructions  to  Sully  and  myself  to 
co-operate,  and  make  the  best  fight  we  could  in  case  of  pressure, 
without  reference  to  the  General,  since  communication  with  him 
was  sure  to  be  difficult  or  impossible.  The  road  was  a  narrow  cart 
way  through  a  dense  and  dark  pine,  or  cedar  forest,  crowded  by 
thousands  of  disorganized  troops  and  fragments  of  commands; 
disorderly  wagon  trains;  guns  without  officers;  caissons  without 
guns;  and  in  short,  a  hopeless  and  irredeemable  mob.  It  was 
necessary  for  the  Division  to  be  held  compact,  and  ready  for  action 
to  sustain  its  own  rearguard  if  necessary,  while  it  fell  to  the  latter 
to  keep  order  by  any  means  however  summary;  shove  on  the 
trains;  push  forward  the  mob;  drive  up  the  stragglers;  and  protect 

1  This  thorough  and  timely  reconnoissance  by  two  regiments  of  the  Philadelphia 
Brigade — the  71st  and  72d — disclosed  Lee's  solid  columns  in  motion  by  their  left 
to  the  rear  of  the  Union  Army,  and  led  to  the  all-important  check  they  received  at 
Chantilly,  on  the  same  afternoon.  Colonel  Allan  in  his  excellent  work  on  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  states  that  it  was  ordered  by  Pope,  but  erroneously 
declares  on  the  authority  of  Gen.  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  that  "it  was  not  made."  (Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  By  Col.  William  Allan,  pp.  314). 


PERFORMING  REARGUARD  DUTY  47 

the  whole  by  showing  firm  face  to  the  pursuit,  defeating  it  if 
possible,  but,  at  all  hazards,  holding  it  in  check  till  aid  should  be 
summoned  from  the  mass  of  the  Division  in  front. 

These  dispositions  proved  successful  against  a  pursuit  both 
able  and  aggressive,  partly  because  of  the  cheerful  courage  and 
ability  of  Sully,  and  partly  because  of  the  unbounded  confidence 
we  both  had  in  Sedgwick,  whom,  as  he  had  predicted,  we  had  no 
further  opportunity  of  seeing  through  the  night,  but  who  we  well 
knew,  would  not  abandon  us.  The  plan  arranged  between  Sully 
and  myself  was  simple  enough  and  of  no  very  difficult  execution, 
provided  we  could  keep  ahead  and  clear  of  us,  the  rabble,  whom  we 
dare  not  allow  to  mingle  with  or  hang  about  our  troops.  For 
this  essential  purpose,  a  small  provost  guard,  under  carefully 
picked  officers,  was  extemporized,  with  such  imperative  and  severe 
orders  respecting  teamsters  and  stragglers,  as  might  not  have 
found  favor  with  theoretical  patriots  at  home.  In  case  of  attack 
from  the  rear,  one  regiment  would  take  position  and  deploy  for 
resistance,  while  the  other  would  gain  distance  and  repeat  the 
process,  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  first  through  and  beyond  it. 
The  two  Colonels  always  to  remain  on  or  near  the  road  for  confer- 
ence, if  required.  The  two  regiments,  slowly  driving  the  rout 
before  them,  had  not  advanced  far  when  some  light  guns  opened 
on  them  from  the  rear,  the  shells  passing  over  us,  and  bursting 
among  the  rabble  in  front,  causing  among  them  a  panic,  restrained 
with  the  greatest  difficulty.  Since  this  showed  it  necessary  to 
keep  the  enemy  at  a  greater  distance,  even  at  the  risk  of  prolong- 
ing to  a  dangerous  extent  our  exposed  flanks,  the  71st  was  deployed 
to  the  rear,  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  in  two  battalions  aligned  at 
an  obtuse  angle  with  each  other,  while  the  column  moved  on. 
After  remaining  here  long  enough,  as  was  supposed,  to  give  the 
column  a  sufficient  advance,  the  enemy's  shot  striking  ground  in 
our  rear  without  much  damage,  I  was  about  getting  the  regiment 
into  the  road  to  resume  the  march,  when  I  caught  sound  of  the 
tread  of  horses,  who  under  cover  of  the  thick  woods  and  impene- 
trable darkness,  had  approached  within  a  few  yards.  Not  being 
certain  the  cavalry  was  hostile,  I  challenged  in  person:  "Halt, 
advance  one  with  the  countersign,  quick,  or  you  will  get  the  fire  of 


48  SKIRMISHES   AND   THE    BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

a  brigade."  "Fire  and  be  d — d,"  came  through  the  darkness,  as 
the  order  rang  out,  and  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy's  advanced 
guard  gallantly  made  its  charge.  I  had  barely  time  to  gallop  to 
the  rear  of  a  battalion  and  give  the  order:  "Fire  by  battalion; 
right  battalion  ready,  aim,  fire,  load. ' '  ' '  Left  battalion  ready,  aim, 
fire,  load."  The  two  volleys  crossing  each  other  at  such  short 
distance,  quickly  disposed  of  the  small  cavalry  force,  leaving  the 
road  full  of  dead  and  struggling  horses,  with  not  a  few  of  the 
riders;  and,  after  pushing  a  slight  reconnoissance  to  the  rear  where 
the  enemy  was  found  in  force,  a  small  regimental  rearguard  was 
suitably  disposed  and  the  march  resumed. 

We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  met  Sully  and  his  Adjutant 
galloping  back  to  learn  the  extent  of  the  collision,  from  whom  the 
satisfactory  information  was  received  that  the  1st  Minnesota  was 
already  in  line  of  battle  in  a  fine  position  half  a  mile  ahead.  The 
71st  marched  through  it,  receiving  vociferous  cheers  for  its  success, 
and  obtained  a  similar  position  in  its  turn,  and  this  system  was 
continued  through  the  night  with  sundry  variations,  but  entire 
success;  the  enemy's  guns  pressing  close  behind,  occasionally 
reaching  the  column  with  a  few  shell  thrown  over  the  heads  of  the 
rearguard,  or  from  some  flank  position,  but  on  the  whole  doing 
little  damage.  Of  course,  as  a  military  operation  by  rearguard, 
all  this  would  have  been  simple  enough,  but  for  the  immense  mass 
of  worthless  and  panic-stricken  stragglers  crowded  between  us 
and  the  rest  of  the  Division,  which  made  it  practically  inaccessi- 
ble, and  rendered  quick  support  from  it  impossible.  Many 
hundred — perhaps  thousands — of  Germans  from  the  routed  Divi- 
sion of  Siegel,  had  abandoned  their  colors,  thrown  away  their 
arms,  and  deliberately  gone  to  sleep  around  fires  kindled  in  the 
woods,  a  spectacle  most  exasperating  to  our  men,  since  these 
stragglers  could  have  no  other  design  than  to  be  taken  prisoners 
after  the  passage  of  the  rearguard.  The  soldiers  in  ranks  begged 
to  be  let  loose  on  these  'coffee-boilers,'  promising  there  should  be 
none  left  for  the  enemy;  but  the  integrity  of  the  rearguard  was  of 
too  much  importance  to  permit  risking  it,  even  for  that  just  ven- 
geance. Nevertheless,  such  stragglers  did  not  all  go  unwhipt  of 
justice.  Unfortunately,  the  Adjutant's  horse  being  killed  and  no 


STOBY  OF  A  WEST  POINT  LIEUTENANT  49 

Major  present,  the  only  mounted  regimental  officers  were  Lieut.- 
Col.  Jones  and  myself,  who,  when  otherwise  unoccupied,  busied 
ourselves  with  charging  into  these  sleeping  squads  of  loafers,  to 
the  intense  delight  of  the  gallant  fellows  of  the  hard-worked  rear- 
guard. Lieut.-Col.  Jones  was  a  well-qualified  young  West  Pointer, 
recently  appointed  to  the  regiment  at  my  request.  He  was  not 
long  with  the  regiment  before  he  received  the  appointment  of 
Colonel  of  the  34th  Ohio,  and  was  killed  at  its  head  as  it  mounted 
the  earthworks  at  Chickamauga.  An  amusing  adventure  occurred 
to  another  young  West  Pointer,  on  that  night.  A  small  and 
remarkably  worthless  regiment  of  volunteer  cavalry  had  been 
sent  early  in  the  night  to  co-operate  with  the  rearguard,  but  was 
so  badly  commanded  that  its  only  tendency  was  to  disorder  the 
infantry  by  clinging  to  its  flanks,  and  dashing  suddenly  in  upon  it 
from  time  to  time.  Sully  and  I  soon  concluded  we  could  do  better 
without  it,  and  in  order  to  get  rid  of  it,  ordered  it  forward  to  report 
to  Sedgwick,  with  the  request  to  the  General  for  even  a  single 
troop  of  good  cavalry  if  possible  to  spare  it.  In  due  time  a  young 
West  Point  Lieutenant  with  about  twenty  regular  cavalry  reported 
from  the  General,  and  was  promptly  set  to  work. 

The  Lieutenant,  whom  I  now  only  remember  as  'Johnny,' 
was  a  brave  and  capable  young  fellow,  crossing  swords  with  the 
enemy's  scouting  parties  on  our  flanks  whenever  they  gave  him 
the  opportunity,  and  retreating  upon  the  infantry  in  perfect  order, 
when  pressed.  But  having  been  with  his  troops  in  the  saddle  for 
several  days,  both  men  and  horses  were  fairly  exhausted,  and  to- 
ward morning  suddenly  disappeared  entirely.  Nothing  was  heard 
of  him  for  some  days,  when  he  suddenly  rejoined  the  army  on  a 
'private  exchange'  (of  prisoners)  with  the  following  mournful 
story.  Finding  himself,  near  daybreak,  on  an  elevated  piece  of 
cleared  ground,  with  the  pursuit  slackening,  and  no  enemy  at  hand 
he  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  give  men  and  horses  a  few 
minutes'  rest.  The  horses  were  therefore  unbitted,  and  the  men 
lay  down  without  sentinels,  Johnny  intending  to  keep  awake,  or 
get  awake  within  ten  mintues  and  go  on  with  his  business  like  a 
giant  refreshed.  He  knew,  or  thought  he  knew  the  position  of  the 
column  in  the  road  by  the  irregular  and  intermittent  pounding  of 


50  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

the  pursuing  guns,  and  thought  that  for  such  a  very  few  minutes 
he  might  avoid  sacrificing  the  rest  of  even  one  sentinel.  But  the 
Confederate  Cavalry  of  General  Fitz-Hugh  Lee,  just  then  carefully 
exploring  our  flank  to  find  where  he  could  best  strike,  came  sud- 
denly upon  and  surrounded  the  whole  squad,  capturing  it  entire. 
In  fact  the  men  were  so  dead-beat  they  had  to  be  stirred  up  with 
difficulty,  one  by  one,  to  receive  the  polite  invitation  to  surrender. 
Johnny  having  given  his  personal  parole  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
out  of  the  Confederate  Provost  Marshal's  hands  as  long  as  possible, 
was  sent  to  the  rear  and  invited  to  make  himself  at  home  in  Lee's 
tent.  There  he  devoted  himself  for  a  day  or  two  to  solid  sleep, 
when  his  host  returned  and  informed  him  that  this  parole  must 
expire  next  day,  when  he  would  be  under  the  disagreeable  neces- 
sity of  '  turning  him  in.'  Nevertheless,  he  should  first  meet  a  lot 
of  his  old  West  Point  acquaintances  at  dinner,  for  which  purpose  a 
number  of  Confederate  West  Pointers  were  assembled  and  John- 
ny's misfortune  freely  discussed  over  whiskey  and  roast  potatoes, 
the  captive's  heart  being  made  sore  by  the  sound,  but  now  super- 
fluous advice,  never  to  do  it  again  without  affording  himself  '  at 
least  one  sentinel.'  But  Johnny  continued  so  low-spirited  over 
this  ignominious  check  to  his  budding  career,  that  a  private 
exchange  was  at  last  procured  for  him — general  ones  not  being 
then  permitted — and  he  returned  to  us  with  resolutions  concerning 
sentinels  as  firm  and  uncompromising  as  were  ever  formed  in  a 
soldier's  breast. 

About  daylight,  the  pursuit  having  ceased,  Sedgwick's  hard- 
worked  Division  halted  and  went  into  camp  at  Langley,  near  the 
Potomac,  and  after  a  day's  rest  the  whole  Second  Corps  marched 
to  Tenallytown,  Md.  As  it  was  supposed  some  time  would  be 
devoted  here  to  restoring  and  refitting  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  I 
took  the  opportunity  to  telegraph  for  my  wife,  who  immediately 
came  down  in  charge  of  her  brother,  who  returned  by  the  next 
train.  He  had  not  been  gone  an  hour  when  intelligence  was 
received  of  the  reappointment  of  McClellan  to  the  command  of  the 
Army,  together  with  his  orders  for  an  immediate  march  against 
Lee,  who  had  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Maryland.  There  was  no 
means  of  getting  an  escort  to  Washington  for  Mrs.  Wistar,  and 
the  best  I  could  do  was  to  place  her  and  Mrs.  Rizer,  wife  of  the 


INFANTRY  CHARGE   CAVALRY   SUCCESSFULLY  51 

Surgeon  of  the  72nd,  in  an  ambulance  belonging  to  a  hospital 
train  under  command  of  a  lieutenant  of  our  brigade. 

The  Second  and  Twelfth  Corps,  both  under  command  of 
Sumner,  marched  at  noon,  September  4th,  by  way  of  Rockville 
and  Clarksburg  to  Hyattstown.  Burns  being  still  disabled  by  his 
wound,  Howard  continued  in  command  of  our  brigade.  The 
quiet  Maryland  village  of  Hyattstown  lay  at  the  bottom  of  a  wide 
and  deep  gorge  of  the  Monocacy,  where  the  main  road  of  our 
advance  was  intersected  by  a  cross-road  following  the  line  of  the 
river.  When  the  head  of  the  column  arrived  at  the  brink  of  the 
ravine  whence  it  looked  down  on  the  town  and  cross-roads,  it  was 
halted  by  Sumner,  who  by  way  of  a  delicate  compliment  to  the 
71st  for  its  recent  service,  sent  it  forward  to  explore  and  clear  the 
ravine  of  the  enemy's  rearguard  before  involving  the  mass  of  the 
column.  After  descending  the  hill  and  fording  the  river,  half  the 
regiment  was  left  at  the  cross-roads  with  orders  to  send  out  a 
company  to  right  and  left  to  clear  and  hold  the  two  roads,  while  the 
remaining  five  companies  were  deployed,  covered  well  with  a 
skirmish-line  and  pushed  on  up  the  hill  driving  the  enemy's  few 
skirmishers  before  them.  Not  a  citizen  was  to  be  seen  in  the  town, 
the  houses  being  closed  and  the  inhabitants  in  the  cellars,  as  our 
batteries  had  commenced  throwing  shell  over  it  and  us,  at  the 
enemy  near  the  top  of  the  hill,  not  yet  visible  to  us.  The  enemy's 
retiring  skirmishers  of  dismounted  cavalrymen  being  reinforced, 
were  able  to  retard  our  progress  somewhat,  and,  as  we  approached 
the  hill-top  our  batteries  ceased  firing  over  us,  indicating  that  the 
enemy  not  yet  visible  to  us,  had  either  retired  beyond  their  range, 
or  that  we  were  getting  close  to  their  position.  Sending  back  an 
order  for  the  reserve  to  advance  half  its  force  in  support,the  leading 
companies  pushed  on  through  a  field  of  tall  corn,  emerging  directly 
upon  a  cavalry  column  just  arrived  and  commencing  a  hasty  and 
disorderly  deployment.  There  were  two  things  that  might  be 
done,  and  not  much  time  to  choose  between  them;  viz.,  to  form 
square  and  wait  then1  attack,  or  taking  advantage  of  their  condi- 
tion, go  right  for  them.  As  all  the  field-glasses  in  the  Second  Corps 
Staff  were  no  doubt  levelled  at  us  from  the  high  ground  across  the 
river,  the  last  was  adopted,  and  a  headlong  charge  of  infantry  on 
cavalry  was  executed  without  wasting  a  minute. 


52  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

I  do  not  know  of  any  other  such  charge  against  mounted 
cavalry,  and  am  aware  it  is  nowhere  recommended  in  the  text- 
books, but  under  the  circumstances  this  one  proved  eminently 
successful,  the  enemy  falling  at  once  into  a  disorder  which  he 
found  impossible  to  remedy  under  pressure,  and  was  forced  to 
make  a  rapid  retreat  to  restore  his  line.  The  reserve  companies 
coming  up,  a  long  thin  line  was  formed  with  wide  intervals  and 
refused  wings.  The  wounded  prisoners  reporting  Baker's  brigade 
of  Confederate  cavalry  in  front  of  us,  with  infantry  at  no  great 
distance,  the  information  was  sent  back  to  Sumner,  and  as  it  was 
now  dark,  we  proceeded  to  bivouac  on  the  ground  gained,  feeling 
extensively  in  front  and  on  both  flanks  with  patrols.  Late  in  the 
evening  Col.  Sully  arrived  with  his  regiment  and  two  light  guns 
without  caissons,  with  orders  to  hold  the  ground,  but  make  no 
such  aggressive  movement  as  might  bring  on  an  engagement  too 
big  for  us  to  manage.  Now  as  we  knew  of  a  whole  cavalry  brigade 
in  front,  and  were  aware  that  the  rear  of  Longstreet's  Corps  could 
not  be  far  off,  and  we  were  at  least  three  miles  from  any  possible 
reinforcements,  with  two  roads  intersecting  our  only  practicable 
connection  with  them,  a  remarkably  fine  chance  was  presented  for 
an  enterprising  enemy  to  surround  and  capture  our  two  isolated 
regiments.  As  I  did  not  crave  for  the  honor  either  of  defeat  or 
surrender,  I  proposed  to  Sully  to  take  command,  on  his  rank  as  an 
officer  of  the  regular  army.  He  however  insisted  that  I  possessed 
the  oldest  commission,  which  I  could  not  deny,  and  after  some 
friendly  sparring  we  agreed  to  share  the  command  between  us, 
and  he  undertook  to  post  guards  and  pickets  in  the  woods  on  the 
left,  while  I  attended  to  the  open  country  on  the  right.  After 
that  was  done  it  came  on  to  rain,  and  S.  and  I  passed  a  miserable 
night  sitting  on  the  ground  under  a  dripping  tree,  holding  our 
wretched  horses  and  kept  constantly  on  the  alert  by  the  numerous 
collisions  of  pickets.  The  men  had  a  day's  rations  in  haversacks, 
but  the  officers  had  nothing,  and  S.  and  I,  with  our  respective 
Adjutants,  were  reduced  to  sup  on  a  bottle  of  whiskey  which  he 
fortunately  had  in  his  holsters. 

Just  before  daylight  a  negro  body-servant  of  the  Confederate 
Col.  Baker,  who  had  got  entangled  inside  our  lines  in  looking  for  a 


CONTROVERSY  WITH  GENERAL  HOWARD  53 

lost  horse,  was  captured  in  an  effort  to  get  away.  Feeling  his  way 
along  our  picket-line  he  dropped  into  the  road  beyond  the  guard 
but  was  picked  up  by  a  single  sentinel  concealed  a  hundred  yards 
beyond,  and  brought  in.  The  darkey  refused  to  tell  anything,  but 
his  captors  being  hungry  and  wet,  and  not  in  a  mood  to  trifle,  he 
was  placed  on  a  horse  with  a  noose  round  his  neck,  the  other  end 
of  which  was  run  over  a  low  limb  and  fastened.  When  all  was 
ready,  and  a  single  blow  from  the  flat  of  a  sabre  would  have  started 
the  horse  and  launched  the  darkey  into  space,  he  weakened  and 
promised  to  tell  all  he  knew.  The  cheeks  and  throat  of  the  negro 
at  this  critical  moment  entirely  changed  color,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  presenting  a  dirty  greenish-white  appearance.  This  sur- 
prising physical  phenomenon  which  was  noticed  by  all,  is  my  only 
reason  for  noting  such  a  trifling  circumstance. 

At  daybreak  we  could  see  the  head  of  Sumner's  column  in 
motion  winding  down  the  hill  beyond  the  river,  and  knew  that  we 
were  no  longer  in  danger  of  a  Confederate  prison.  Two  days  later 
when  approaching  the  town  of  Frederick — Lee  evacuating  the 
country  before  us — General  Howard,  the  new  brigade  comman- 
der, had  the  impudence  to  place  me  in  arrest  for  refusing  to  obey 
his  order  to  consolidate  my  battered  drum  crops,  with  the  spick  and 
span  new  corps  of  another  regiment  that  had  never  seen  an  enemy 
till  after  the  71st  had  lost  nearly  400  men  in  action. 

On  my  refusal,  twice  repeated  to  his  A.  D.  C.,  possibly  with 
more  emphasis  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  General  Howard 
ordered  me  into  arrest  but  declined  to  receive  my  sword;  I  retired 
as  in  duty  bound  to  the  rear  of  the  regiment,  surrendering  com- 
mand to  the  senior  captain,  no  field  officer  being  present.  Howard 
preferred  charges  for  Disobedience  of  Orders,  of  which  he  sent  me 
a  copy,  when  the  following  correspondence  occurred.  I  copy  from 
the  old  papers  now  lying  before  me,  nearly  illegible  from  being 
soaked  in  my  blood  in  the  following  battle  of  Antietam. 

Hdqrs.  Burns  Brigade,  Frederick,  Sept.  13, 1862. 
COLONEL:    Gen.  Howard  directs  me  to  say  that  the  above  charges 
and  specifications  will  not  be  forwarded  until  ample  time  has  been  given 
for  written  explanations.     Very  Respectfully  Your  Obed.  Servant, 
To  COL.  I.  J.  WISTAR.  E.  WHITTLESEY,  A.  A.  G. 


54  SKIRMISHES  AND  THE    BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

CAPTAIN  :  I  have  no  explanation  to  offer,  either  written  or  verbal.  If 
I  or  my  regiment  deserved  censure — which  has  never  been  the  opinion  of 
more  experienced  Brigade  Commanders — a  better  mode  of  administering 
it  might  have  been  selected  than  the  insidious  insult  of  breaking  it  up  into 
detachments  to  swell  the  pageant  of  another.  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
Sir,,  with  respect 

ISAAC  J.  WISTAB, 
Sept.  13th,  1862.  Col.  Gala.  Regiment,  (in  arrest). 

P.  S.    I  have  no  stationery  but  this  old  envelope. 

On  receipt  of  the  last,  General  Howard  sent  for  me,  and  I  went 
late  at  night  to  the  tent-fly  under  which  he  was  sitting,  surrounded 
by  his  staff,  assembled  I  presume  to  be  taught  a  lesson  in  the  nice- 
ties of  personal  and  official  dignity.  As  I  entered,  H.  rose  and 
ordered  some  of  them  to  get  me  a  cracker-box  as  a  seat,  to  which 
I  replied  that  I  preferred  standing.  Then,  with  swelling  dignity: 
"Sir,  I  consider  your  communication  insulting,  and  manifestly 
intended  to  be  so."  No  answer.  "When  you  receive  an  official 
order,  it  should  be  at  once  obeyed  and  explanations  asked  after- 
wards." No  answer.  "Will  you  obey  the  order  now?"  "No 
sir,  never."  "What  is  your  objection?"  "I  decline  to  converse 
about  it.  You  have  preferred  charges.  I  will  defend  myself 
only  before  the  Court  or  your  superiors."  "Well,  I  must  inform 
you  that  Gen.  Sedgwick  discourages  the  charges,  thinking  you  must 
be  under  some  misapprehension."  "No  misapprehension  what- 
ever, sir."  "Well,  but  the  order  was  Gen.  Sedgwick's  and  merely 
transmitted  through  me."  "Then,  sir,  why  did  you  not  so  specify 
as  usual  with  a  transmitted  order,  and  it  would  have  been  in- 
stantly obeyed."  "Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  regard  Gen. 
S.'s  orders  as  more  obligatory  than  mine?"  "No  sir,  not  his 
military  orders.  But  this  is  not  a  military  order;  it  refers  simply 
to  regimental  pageantry.  Gen.  Sedgwick  knows  me  and  my 
regiment  well,  and  we  know  him,  and  would  obey  without  ques- 
tion any  order  whatever  from  him,  knowing  he  had  some  good 


reason." 


This,  though  it  could  hardly  have  soothed  the  General's  ruffled 
dignity,  ended  the  discussion  and  he  released  me  from  arrest  and 
abandoned  the  charges.  On  inquiring  about  it  later  from  General 
Sedgwick,  he  informed  me  the  order  was  neither  his  nor  Howard's 


A  PART  OF  GENERAL  HOWARD'S  HISTORY  55 

but  came  from  Sumner,  the  Corps  Commander,  and  was  general  in 
terms,  being  simply  intended  to  consolidate  the  drum  corps  of  each 
two  regiments  for  better  effect  on  the  doubtful  loyalty  of  the  large 
town  of  Frederick;  Howard  having  through  inadvertence  or  other- 
wise, chosen  to  give  it  a  definite  application  by  effacing  the  music 
of  his  oldest  regiment  in  favor  of  the  youngest,  instead  of  the  con- 
verse, as  decency  required.  Being  ostentatiously  and  aggressively 
pious,  his  dislike  of  me  was  I  suppose  purely  theological,  since  I 
had  stiffly  declined  to  encourage  or  take  part  in  the  public  wrest- 
lings in  prayer  with  which  he  bedeviled  his  staff,  and  edified  the 
admiring  young  newspaper  reporters.  By  outliving  his  contem- 
poraries, and  cultivating  an  obsequious  loyalty  to  the  ruling  party 
and  its  demagogues,  he  has,  without  winning  a  single  professional 
success  in  his  whole  career,  attained  high  parchment  rank  since  the 
war.  The  shameful  surprise  and  flight  of  his  Corps  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  which  came  near  wrecking  the  army;  his  disastrous  failure  at 
Gettysburg  followed  by  his  humiliating  excuse  to  Gen.  Meade, 
and  his  futile  and  ludicrous  chase  across  the  continent  after  Joseph, 
the  civilized  Nez  Perces  chief — who  though  a  peaceful  husbandman, 
untrained  to  war,  and  burdened  with  a  numerous  body  of  starved 
and  half-naked  non-combatants,  eluded  for  months  the  professed 
soldier  backed  by  twenty  tunes  his  force — are  prominent  and  illus- 
trative facts  of  his  military  career;  while  his  record  in  civil  life 
must  always  remain  tarnished  by  the  unexplained  evaporation  of 
the  "Freedmen's"  earnings  by  the  ruin  of  their  bank  at  Washing- 
ton, of  which  he  was  President.4 

4  Editorial  from  The  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  Friday,  March  27,  1896. 

THE   OLD   SOLDIERS   SHOULD   PROTEST 

The  Boston  Herald  says  that  Senator  Hale  and  Congressman  Dingley,  both 
of  the  State  of  Maine,  have  in  charge  a  bill  to  confer  upon  General  Howard,  also 
of  the  State  of  Maine,  who  is  on  the  retired  list  of  the  regular  army,  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general.  Should  General  Miles  be  made  lieutenant-general,  New 
England,  whose  soldiers  and  military  historians  regret  that  she  did  not  produce  a 
capable  army  commander  during  the  Civil  war,  will  have  two  lieutenant-generals 
thirty-one  years  after  the  war  is  over. 

Accompanying  the  Howard  bill  now  before  Congress  is  a  statement  dated  Wash- 
ington and  signed  by  E.  Moody  Boynton  formulating  General  Howard's  claims 
to  the  distinction  proposed  to  be  conferred  upon  that  officer.  This  statement 


56  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OP  ANTIETAM 

On  the  14th,  the  Second  Corps  made  a  forced  march  to  the  sound 
of  the  guns  at  South  Mountain,  arriving  after  the  pass  at  Turner's 
Gap  had  been  forced  by  our  troops,  and  camped  on  the  field  of 
battle.  The  troops  engaged  having  made  sufficient  details  for 
bringing  in  the  wounded  and  burying  the  dead,  Sumner  passed 

is  remarkable  for  its  ignorance  of  history,  for  its  malicious,  audacious  and 
false  attacks  upon  much  greater  soldiers  than  General  Howard,  and  it  is  further 
remarkable  for  its  silence  as  to  what  that  officer  actually  did,  its  avoidance  of  all 
reference  to  what  he  failed  to  do  upon  the  field  of  battle  and  the  unblushing  effront- 
ery with  which  it  attributes  to  General  Howard  acts  of  valor  and  military  skill 
performed  by  Generals  Buford,  Reynolds,  Warren,  Hancock  and  Meade  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg.  Here  are  some  of  the  false  assertions  and  false  claims 
made  in  the  statement  in  General  Howard's  behalf: 

"He  saved  his  army  and  his  country  and  secured  the  unwilling  adoption  of 
his  position  and  line  by  Major-General  Meade  with  the  entire  army  of  the  Potomac. 
The  plan  of  Meade  was  to  have  retreated  to  Pipe  Clay  Creek.  .  .  .  The 
battle  (of  the  first  day)  was  over  by  4.30  o'clock,  when  Hancock  arrived.  He 
repeatedly  on  the  second  day  sent  messages  to  General  Meade  asking  the  occu- 
pation of  Little  Round  Top." 

We  are  also  told  that  Howard  urged  Meade  to  attack  after  the  defeat  of  Pick- 
ett's  charge,  and  again  at  Williamsport  and  are  assured  that  either  attack  would 
have  resulted  in  the  annihilation  of  Lee's  army.  The  claim  is  made  that  it  was 
Howard's  artillery  that  swept  Pickett's  division  from  the  face  of  the  earth  and 
enabled  the  Nineteenth  Massachusetts  to  capture  what  was  left  of  it. 

Such  a  statement  would  be  unworthy  of  serious  attention  if  it  were  not  pro- 
posed to  spread  it  upon  the  records  of  Congress  and  to  issue  it  in  the  form  of  a 
public  document.  The  representatives  in  Congress  from  other  States  than 
Maine,  especially  the  Senators  and  Representatives  from  Pennsylvania,  the 
soldiers  upon  the  Military  Committees  of  the  Senate  and  House  should  see  to  it 
that  the  government  is  not  made  ridiculous  by  indorsing  assertions  so  ignorant, 
false  and  unjust  to  great  military  heroes  who,  being  dead,  cannot  defend  them- 
selves, but  some  of  whom  in  their  life  time  fully  exposed  Howard's  military  pre- 
tensions. At  one  time  he  struggled  to  take  from  General  Hancock  the  credit 
of  restoring  order  after  the  rout  of  Howard's  corps  on  the  first  day.  Now  he 
claims  that  the  danger  was  over  when  Hancock  arrived  and  that  the  responsibility 
was  trivial. 

The  monuments  erected  on  the  line  of  Howard's  corps  at  Gettysburg  are  endur- 
ing memorials  of  Howard's  incapacity  as  a  general.  They  show  him  to  posterity 
in  the  act  of  advancing  to  a  range  of  hills  beyond  the  roads  upon  which  the  enemy 
were  coming  towards  Gettysburg.  Had  he  gained  the  hills  the  Confederates 
would  have  come  in  behind  him.  His  incompetency  at  Gettysburg  was  but  a 
repetition  of  his  conduct  at  Chancellors ville.  At  Pittsburg  he  was  lately  warned 
by  veterans  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  not  to  repeat  some  of  the  insinuations 
which  are  expressed  in  the  statement  of  the  man  Boynton.  The  surviving  soldiers 
of  that  army  should  send  their  protests  to  Congress  against  making  General 
Howard  a  paper  lieutenant-general  upon  grounds  that  have  no  existence. 


A  SHELL  IN  CAMP  57 

through  the  Gap  on  the  15th,  and  marching  through  Boonsboro, 
took  position  before  dark,  near  Keedysville,  on  the  centre  of  the 
line  now  forming  on  Antietam  Creek. 

During  the  march  to  this  place  the  advance  had  constantly 
pressed  Lee's  rearguard,  under  Longstreet,  and  as  an  engagement 
of  any  dimensions  might  occur  from  hour  to  hour,  it  had  been  pos- 
sible for  me  to  leave  my  command  long  enough  to  go  to  the  rear  to 
see  my  wife  only  on  two  occasions.  As  the  ambulance  division  fol- 
lowed the  troops  at  no  great  distance,  I  was  naturally  filled  with 
solicitude  in  moving  through  the  bloody  scenes  of  the  battlefield  of 
South  Mountain,  at  the  reflection  of  the  unwonted  spectacles  that 
must  there  meet  the  ladies'  eyes.  But  even  these  were  exceeded 
when,  after  passing  though  the  contested  Gap,  we  came  upon  the 
Confederate  field-hospitals  in  rear  of  their  lost  position.  The 
worst  of  these  was  a  blacksmith-shop  directly  on  the  road,  in 
which  an  operating  table  had  been  rudely  constructed,  and  the 
amputated  limbs  thrown  through  the  window,  where  they  still  lay 
in  a  blue  festering  heap  that  would  have  filled  two  or  three  army 
wagons.  Piles  of  bloody  and  mutilated  bodies  of  those  who  had 
arrived  too  late,  or  had  died  under  the  surgeon's  hands,  encum- 
bered the  ground  and  roadside  in  front.  All  I  could  do  was  to 
send  a  man  to  the  rear  with  a  note  to  the  ambulance  lieutenant, 
begging  him  to  arrange  in  some  way  that  the  ladies  might  escape 
this  sight;  but  I  afterwards  learned  that  he  had  not  found  that 
practicable,  and  their  sensibilities  had  been  spared  nothing. 

The  16th  was  passed  by  McClellan  in  completing  his  concen- 
tration, forming  his  line,  and  feeling  by  single  batteries  for  the 
enemy's  artillery  positions.  One  of  our  batteries  had  thought- 
lessly opened  from  a  slight  ridge,  behind  which  was  bivouacked 
Sedgwick's  entire  Division  closed  in  mass,  forming  a  compact  rect- 
angular body  crowded  as  close  as  the  men  could  lie  behind  their 
stacks.  I  was  sitting  with  Gen.  Sedgwick  on  a  wagon-tongue 
opposite,  and  not  far  from  the  flank  of  this  mass,  when  the  enemy 
opened  with  one  of  their  batteries  in  reply.  The  first  shots  as 
usual  flew  high,  but  as  they  approximated  the  range,  their  shells 
began  to  strike  in  our  battery,  or  missing  it  and  the  ridge,  to  fly 
low  over  the  infantry  division  in  rear.  Someone  remarked  on  the 


58  SKIBMISHES  AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

stupidity  of  uselessly  drawing  an  artillery  fire  on  a  crowded  mass 
of  infantry,  and  Sedgwick  sent  an  aide  to  the  battery  to  inquire  for 
what  reason,  or  by  whose  orders  they  were  posted  at  that  partic- 
ular spot.  The  officer  had  scarcely  galloped  off  with  the  mes- 
sage, when  a  shell  skimming  lightly  over  the  ridge,  whizzed  low 
over  the  men,  causing  thousands  of  heads  to  duck,  and  struck 
fairly  in  the  middle  of  my  own  regiment.  From  the  stacked 
muskets  the  men  had  stretched  shelter  tents  for  shade,  and  were 
lying  in  all  attitudes  of  rest,  apparently  covering  every  inch  of 
ground.  Muskets,  blankets,  knapsacks  and  shelter- tents  flew  into 
the  air,  and  any  spectator  must  have  been  shocked  at  what  seemed 
terrible  havoc  of  a  single  shot.  But  on  running  over  to  ascertain 
the  damage,  it  turned  out  that  with  the  exception  of  one  man 
struck  square  in  the  neck,  not  another  one  was  even  hurt;  the 
shell  entering  the  ground  without  bursting.  By  comparing  this 
singular  immunity  with  the  effect  of  another  shell  which  on  a 
subsequent  occasion  I  saw  strike  and  explode  a  limber  chest,  killing 
or  wounding  thirteen  men  on  the  spot,  one  may  form  an  idea  of  the 
uncertain  and  chance  results  of  this,  the  most  striking  and  impos- 
ing of  all  ordinary  arms  of  offense. 

The  night  of  the  16th  was  showery,  and  Howard  and  I  slept 
under  a  few  rails  propped  up,  and  partially  covered  with  corn- 
stalks. It  being  then  known  at  headquarters  that  Hooker  had 
been  severely  checked  in  getting  into  position  on  the  right,  an 
order  came  at  2  A.M.  to  inspect  cartridge  boxes;  followed  an  hour 
later  by  another  to  distribute  forty  additional  rounds  for  the 
trousers  pockets.  At  four,  the  men  were  roused  for  coffee,  and 
soon  after  dawned  with  a  brilliant  but  short-lived  and  delusive 
sunshine,  what  all  now  knew  was  to  be  the  day  of  battle.  Knap- 
sacks were  piled,  and  every  preparation  made  for  instant  move- 
ment. Heavy  firing  of  all  arms  advanced  and  retired  on  the  right 
(Hooker  and  Mansfield)  but  it  was  not  till  eight  o'clock  that  an 
aide  came  galloping  down  to  Division  Quarters  waving  in  his  hand 
the  order  that  we  waited  for.  Though  it  would  be  superfluous  to 
give  in  this  place  any  more  ambitious  description  of  the  much- 
discussed  battle  of  Antietam,  than  such  few  items  as  concern  the 


JUST  BEFORE  THE  BATTLE  59 

personal  fortunes  of  the  narrator,  yet  to  render  even  those  inteli- 
gible,  some  brief  explanation  is  required. 

After  the  restoration  of  McClellan  to  command,  the  Confed- 
erate General,  finding  himself  closely  pressed  by  a  hand  stronger 
than  Pope's,  gave  up  his  plan  of  invasion  and  commenced  a  hasty 
concentration  of  his  scattered  columns  preparatory  to  a  with- 
drawal to  his  own  side  of  the  Potomac.  His  several  detachments 
had  therefore  been  called  in  upon  Sharpsburg,  in  front  of  which  a 
defensive  line  had  been  formed,  intended,  but  not  quite  strong 
enough,  to  extend  from  river  to  river  across  a  deep  westward  bend 
of  the  upper  Potomac,  there  ordinarily  fordable.  But,  notwith- 
standing the  defence  of  the  South  Mountain  passes  on  the  14th 
to  gain  time,  on  the  16th  Jackson,  delayed  by  the  siege  and  sur- 
render of  Harper's  Ferry,  was  not  yet  up ;  and  Longstreet  and  D.  H. 
Hill,  having  been  roughly  handled  on  the  14th,  had  barely  pre- 
ceded the  Federal  Army  to  the  position  assigned  them.  It  is 
therefore  probable  that  but  for  the  attack  by  our  right  on  the 
evening  of  the  16th  certain  to  be  vigorously  prosecuted  with  the 
return  of  daylight,  Lee  would  have  crossed  the  river  early  on  the 
17th  and  retired  upon  Jackson,  some  of  whose  divisions  were  in 
march  to  his  support  during  the  entire  night  of  the  16th.  But 
that  attack  made  it  necessary  for  Lee  to  stand  at  bay,  and  at  any 
cost  inflict  sufficient  check  on  his  enemy  to  get  time  for  crossing 
the  river  with  his  guns  and  baggage. 

McClellan,  having  thus  by  rapid  marching  and  severe  fighting, 
forced  his  antagonist  to  accept  battle,  proposed  to  attack  him 
simultaneously  on  both  flanks,  and,  having  driven  either  or  both 
back  upon  their  line  of  retreat,  to  push  forward  a  powerful  center 
to  complete  the  victory.  But  the  execution  of  this  plan  was 
defeated  by  the  extraordinary  supineness  of  Burnside,  who  with 
express  orders  to  attack  on  the  left  at  daylight,  and  with  20,000 
men  already  in  position  for  the  purpose,  delayed  his  movement  till 
one  o'clock,  and  then  required  nearly  or  quite  two  hours  more  to 
get  his  whole  force  engaged.  But  at  half-past  three  A.  P.  Hill 
having  delayed  to  receive  the  surrender  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  then 
marched  twenty  miles  after  the  hour  at  which  Burnside  was  or- 


60  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

dered  to  attack,  arrived  on  the  field  and  at  once  attacked  and  drove 
Burnside  back  across  the  creek,  ending  that  General's  tardy  activ- 
ity for  the  day.  It  was  this  disobedience  and  failure  of  Burnside 
that  enabled  Lee  to  strengthen  his  left  by  detaching  continually 
from  his  right,  till  much  the  larger  part  of  his  army  was  available 
to  meet  the  attacks  on  his  left  made  successively  by  the  Corps  of 
Hooker,  Mansfield  and  Sumner. 

Hooker,  resuming  his  attack  at  daybreak,  was  badly  defeated, 
himself  wounded,  and  his  Corps  dispersed.  Mansfield,  in  support 
of  Hooker,  took  up  the  fighting  against  troops  constantly  rein- 
forced by  Lee  from  his  unemployed  right,  and  shared  the  same  fate, 
being  himself  killed.  It  was  now  eight  o'clock,  and  though  the 
roar  of  battle  resounded  on  the  right,  all  remained  silent  on  our 
left,  where  no  guns  of  Burnside  announced  his  expected  attack 
on  Lee's  weakened  right  wing.  Officer  after  officer  of  the  staff 
had  been  sent  off  in  the  vain  effort  to  hurry  the  tardy  commander 
of  the  Ninth  Corps,  and  it  now  became  necessary  to  follow 
up  the  defeated  attacks  of  Hooker  and  Mansfield  by  troops  de- 
tached from  the  center  where  they  had  been  reserved  for  quite 
another  purpose.  This  was  the  emergency  that  had  brought  us 
the  order  to  move  off  to  the  right,  and  take  up  the  attack  in  that 
quarter  already  twice  defeated.  The  rest  of  the  story  may  as  well 
be  told  by  the  insertion  here  of  a  statement  prepared  by  me  in 
1882,  at  the  request  of  the  Brigade  Survivors'  Association,  to 
repel  certain  insinuations  of  Col.  Palfrey,  a  New  England  officer, 
who,  with  a  certain  selfish  shrewdness  not  absolutely  unknown 
among  his  compatriots,  attempted  to  cover  up  the  defeat  of  his 
own  regiment  by  falsely  attributing  the  cause  to  others.  This 
statement  was  carefully  made  over  my  signature  and  generally 
reprinted  by  the  Pennsylvania  press,  and  has  never  been  contro- 
verted nor  attacked;  even  Palfrey  himself  preserving  a  discreet 
silence  since  its  publication. 

A  recent  Massachusetts  writter,  belonging  to  a  regiment  whose  distin- 
guished gallantry  required  no  superfluous  misrepresentation  of  others,  has 
stated  that  on  the  failure  of  the  attack  by  the  Second  (Sedgwick's) 
Division  of  the  Second  (Sumner's)  Corps  at  Antietam,  the  Philadelphia 
Brigade  was  '  the  first  to  go.'  That  Brigade — or  what  is  left  of  it — is  of  a 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BATTLE  61 

different  opinion,  and  there  must  still  live  some  of  its  survivors  who 
will  recognize  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  following  statement  of  the 
facts. 

During  the  night  of  the  16th  and  17th  of  September,  1862,  Sedgwick's 
Division  was  bivouacked  with  its  Corps  in  close  column,  near  Keedysville, 
in  the  center  of  the  general  position  of  the  army.  Hooker's  Corps,  fol- 
lowed by  Mansfield's  in  support  had  crossed  the  Antietam  Creek  on  the 
evening  of  the  16th  to  take  position  for  attack  on  our  extreme  right. 
During  the  night  the  divisions  of  the  Second  Corps  were  twice  aroused 
for  distribution  of  additional  cartridges,  and  again,  before  daylight,  for 
coffee.  Hooker's  second  attack,  made  at  or  before  daylight  on  the  17th 
failed.  His  Corps,  after  some  sharp  fighting,  was  defeated  and  himself 
wounded.  Mansfield's  small  corps,  following  quickly  in  support,  had  a 
severe  tussle  and  shared  the  same  fate,  its  commander  being  killed.  Then 
soon  after  daylight  came  the  orders  to  Sumner,  in  obedience  to  which 
Sedgwick's  Division  of  that  General's  corps,  with  whose  movements  only 
we  are  now  concerned,  moved  out  by  the  right  flank  by  brigades,  forded 
the  Antietam,  which  took  the  men  above  the  middle  and  faced  to  the 
left.  This  brought  the  division  into  an  attacking  column  of  three  bri- 
gades, following  each  other,  each  deployed  in  line  and  facing  west.  Gor- 
man's brigade  led;  Dana's  followed;  and  Burns'  composed  the  third  line. 
In  consequence  of  General  Burn's  absence,  by  reason  of  wounds  suffered 
in  the  Peninsula,  his  brigade  was  on  that  day  commanded  by  General 
Howard.  It  consisted  of  the  following  Pennsylvania  regiments,  raised 
in  Philadelphia:  viz,  The  Sixty-ninth,  Colonel  Owens;  the  Seventy-first, 
Colonel  Wistar;  the  Seventy-second,  Colonel  Baxter,  and  the  One-hun- 
dred-and-sixth,  Colonel  Moorhead;  the  Seventy-first  being  that  day  on 
the  right. 

The  dripping  soldiers  shook  off  the  water,  the  lines  were  dressed. 
Sumner,  who  in  person  accompanied  his  favorite  division,  waved  his 
sword,  and  the  division,  under  its  beloved  Sedgwick,  moved  to  the  front 
from  which  hardly  more  than  half  of  it  was  ever  to  return.  Not  a  voice, 
and  scarcely  a  shot  at  first  disturbed  the  silent  advance  of  this  veteran 
body  of  about  five  thousand  men.  The  men  were  veterans  and  knew 
their  business.  The  three  lines,  in  perfect  order  and  alignment  moved  for- 
ward at  the  quick  step,  with  arms  at  right  shoulder  shift.  Soon  a  single 
shell  flew  over  all  three  lines  and  exploded  harmlessly  in  the  rear.  Then 
another,  better  elevated,  fell  with  effect  in  the  middle  of  the  column,  and 
the  range  being  found,  the  enemy's  batteries,  a  mile  in  front,  opened  thick 
and  fast,  and  a  sharp  and  sustained  fire  from  about  a  dozen  guns  of  Stuart 
and  S.  D.  Lee,  mostly  taking  effect  in  the  rear  line,  warmed  up  the  column 
for  the  work  before  it.  Soon  the  dead  and  wounded  of  the  two  defeated 
corps  were  encountered,  and  as  the  column  held  its  steady  way  forward 
through  the  historic  cornfield,  death  and  mutilation  in  shocking  forms 
covered  the  ground  on  every  side.  The  dead  were  awaiting  for  a  soldier's 
grave,  and  the  fast  glazing  eyes  of  the  wounded  turned  silently  to  the 
charging  column  marching  over  them  with  steady  and  determined  tread. 


62  SKIRMISHES   AND  THE   BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

The  piece  of  woods  and  the  Hagerstown  pike  were  reached  and  passed. 
The  leading  line  (no  skirmishers)  had  entered,  passed  and  were  emerging 
from  the  second  woods  just  as  the  third  line  had  reached  to  about  its 
center.  The  second  and  third  lines  were  still  parallel,  but  the  first  had 
made  a  slight  change  of  direction  to  the  left,  so  that  at  the  moment 
when  it  passed  the  fence  at  the  far  side  of  the  woods,  its  alignment  formed 
a  slight  angle  with  that  of  the  following  line,  the  apex  of  which  was  on 
the  left  flank.  The  enemy,  relieved  on  his  right  by  the  prolonged  and 
unaccountable  inactivity  of  Burnside,  had  been  able  to  detach  heavy 
reinforcements  to  his  menaced  flank,  and  these  hastily  coming  into  posi- 
tion with  left  refused,  now  offered  a  line  of  battle  more  nearly  conforming 
to  Sedgwick's  line  of  march  than  to  the  alignment  of  his  front.  This 
condition  though  of  transcendent  importance,  was  unknown  to  both 
sides.  The  woods  concealed  each  from  the  other,  and  both  were  in  effect 
moving  forward  on  the  sides  of  an  acute  angle  toward  the  point  of  the 
angle ,  which  the  Confederates  reached  first.  Thus,  under  cover  of  rocks 
and  woods,  the  hostile  Divisions  of  McLaws  and  Walker  had  come- 
certainly  more  by  accident  than  design — to  occupy  a  position  which  at 
the  moment  of  collision  not  only  gave  them  both  front  and  flanking  fire 
against  the  Union  column,  but  was  more  capable  of  rapid  change  to  meet 
the  attack,  as  suddenly  developed.  Hence  it  was  the  left  forward  corner 
of  the  attacking  column  that  first  struck  the  enemy's  line,  from  which  it 
was  instantly  saluted  by  a  destructive  fire,  delivered  at  short  range  in 
its  flank  and  front. 

The  first  line  became  instantly  and  roughly  engaged  under  tremendous 
disadvantage.  The  second  halted  in  line  and  attempted  to  change  front, 
and  the  attention  of  the  present  writer  becoming  absorbed  by  his  own 
concern  with  the  rear  line,  these  observations  will  hereafter  be  confined  to 
it,  or  rather  to  a  part  of  it,  for  the  thin  woods  in  which  the  actual  collision 
occurred  was  obstructed  by  protruding  strata  of  limestone  rock  standing 
on  end  nearly  vertical,  and  the  right  regiment  (Seventy-first)  had,  by 
these  and  other  inequalities,  become  separated  from  the  other  three  of  its 
brigade.  At  the  moment  of  the  shock  the  colonel  of  this  regiment  had 
ordered  it  down  on  its  face  to  avoid  unnecessary  casualties  till  its  service 
in  action  might  be  required.  But  by  the  ardor  of  the  Commanding 
General  the  three  lines  of  battle  had  been  hurried  up  to  intervals  not 
exceeding  thirty  paces,  and  the  engaged  and  reserve  lines  were  simul- 
taneously and  equally  under  fire.  In  a  very  few  minutes  Gorman's 
Brigade,  in  the  effort  to  change  front  under  this  enfilading  and  destroying 
fire,  lost  its  cohesion,  and,  in  fact,  broke.  The  second  line  being  partly 
faced  by  the  rear  rank  for  the  same  purpose,  was  not  in  shape  to  with- 
stand the  rush  of  fugitives,  and  was  almost  instantly  run  over  by  the 
first,  when  both  came  back  with  a  tumultuous  rush  upon  the  rear  brigade. 
The  latter  at  the  order,  delivered  by  the  sword,  for  no  word  was  audible, 
came  at  once  to  its  feet  with  bayonets  at  the  charge.  Upon  the  integ- 
rity of  this  last  line,  which  the  writer  aforesaid  complains  was  '  the  first 
to  go,'  now  depended  the  entire  right  of  the  army,  and  a  stern  resistance 
was  maintained  by  it,  both  to  the  fugitives  and  the  enemy. 


THE  RECORD  OF  THE  SEVENTY-FIRST  63 

In  such  an  action  covering  several  miles  of  front,  few  officers  of  regi- 
mental rank  can  take  personal  cognizance  of  a  long  line  of  battle,  but  it 
can  be  positively  asserted  of  at  least  the  right  regiment,  that  it  held  its 
position  and  forced  the  route  around  its  flanks  till  its  fire  was  unmasked, 
when  the  enemy's  advance  was  sharply  checked.  But  the  general  Union 
line  had  become  defective  on  the  left,  where  Richardson  was  killed,  and 
his  division  roughly  handled,  and  the  superior  force  which  the  Confeder- 
ates were  now  able,  although  from  inferior  resources,  to  bring  upon  this 
vital  point  soon  enveloped  the  left  and  threatened  the  rear  of  the  right 
regiment,  the  enemy's  fire  on  it  being  now  effective  on  its  rear,  left,  and 
front. 

At  the  same  time  a  few  of  Stuart's  guns  had  got  an  advanced  position 
on  the  right,  and  though  some  Union  guns  were  coming  into  battery  on 
the  right  rear  to  attend  to  them,  it  was  nevertheless  evident  that  for  this 
isolated  regiment,  capture  or  retreat  had  become  a  question  of  minutes. 
It  had  indeed  been  important  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  Division  to  the 
last  possible  moment,  but  that  had  already  been  reasonably  well  done, 
and  could  not  be  promoted  by  an  entire  sacrifice  of  the  regiment,  so  the 
Seventy-first  was  reluctantly  ordered  to  retire.  Its  retreat  was  not 
effected  without  sharp  fighting  and  severe  loss.  Every  field  and  staff  offi- 
cer, including  the  Colonel  was  left  upon  the  ground.  But  one  Captain 
and  three  Lieutenants  remained  for  duty,  and  the  loss  in  men — as  nearly 
as  can  now  be  recollected  with  no  official  papers  at  hand — reached  some- 
thing over  fifty  per  cent  of  its  force  engaged.  Under  its  surviving  Cap- 
tain (Lewis) ,  what  was  left  of  it  marched  to  the  rear,  served  fresh  car- 
tridges, called  its  roll  and  reported  to  General  Meade  ready  for  any  duty, 
and  was  put  into  action  by  that  gallant  General  within  half  an  hour. 

The  writer  viewing  these  events  from  the  limited  standpoint  of  a  regi- 
mental officer,  is  unable  to  speak  from  personal  observation  of  the  other 
regiments  of  the  Philadelphia  Brigade  after  separation  from  them  by  the 
roughness  of  the  ground.  But  they  were  substantially  of  the  same  qual- 
ity, and  their  conduct  was  reported  and  is  believed  to  have  been  equally 
soldierly.  Then  and  always  they  received  the  warm  appreciation  of 
corps  and  division  commanders,  and  it  is  believed  that  no  unfavorable 
criticism  of  them,  or  any  of  them,  has  ever  before  been  publicly  made. 
Neither  is  there  any  occasion  or  desire  to  underrate  the  quality  or  serv- 
ices of  the  gallant  regiments  of  Gorman's  or  Dana's  Brigades.  On  the 
contrary  they  were  good  troops,  ably  officered  and  required  no  one's 
indorsement,  for  their  gallant  conduct  on  numerous  fields  before  and  after 
the  misfortune  in  question  abundantly  attests  their  quality.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  they  should  have  possessed  a  single  officer  willing  to  give 
currency  to  unfounded  statements  to  the  prejudice  of  other  troops  of 
equal  merit,  who  on  the  same  fields  and  in  the  same  corps  and  division, 
loyally  and  cheerfully  shed  their  blood  in  the  same  cause. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EXPERIENCES  OF  A  BRIGADE   COMMANDER 

Returning  from  great  historical  events  to  the  small  personal 
adventures  which  are  the  humble  subject  of  this  narrative,  it  may 
be  said  that  while  my  own  individual  fortunes  at  Antietam  were 
better  than  those  of  the  thousands  who  there  fell  to  rise  no  more, 
they  were  by  no  means  so  good  as  those  of  the  other  thousands  who 
escaped  unhurt.  First  of  all  I  lost  a  valuable  and  favorite  horse, 
struck  in  the  knee  by  a  piece  of  shell,  near  the  crossing  of  the 
Hagerstown  pike,  after  which  casualty  I  was  on  foot.  '  Empire' 
was  a  high-spirited,  three-quarter-bred  horse  who  had  learned  to 
fear  none  of  war's  alarms  and  was  only  cheerfully  stimulated  by  the 
heaviest  firing  and  most  unexpected  events  happening  around  him. 
He  was  the  pet  of  the  regiment,  the  men  having  a  way  of  inducing 
him  to  lie  down  at  night  in  a  good  place  where,  on  occasion,  they 
piled  in  around  him  for  warmth,  a  familiarity  with  which  he  was 
not  the  party  least  contented.  He  would  accept  any  reasonable 
kind  of  food  and  rarely  went  hungry,  for  many  of  his  friends  were 
always  ready  to  risk  their  lives  in  creeping  though  the  artillery 
sentinels  to  steal  oats  and  forage  for  him  when  those  luxuries  were 
not  to  be  had  elsewhere  on  any  terms.  When  he  was  first  struck, 
his  faithful  groom,  Dougherty,  came  running  from  the  ranks  and 
received  him  from  me,  but  upon  seeing  D.  resume  his  place  shortly 
afterwards,  I  learned  from  him  the  sad  news  that  he  had  scarcely 
got  the  horse  a  hundred  yards  to  the  rear  when  he  was  killed  on 
the  spot  by  another  shot  through  the  neck. 

When  Sedgwick's  charging  column  struck  the  enemy  and  re- 
ceived a  stunning  fire  on  flank  and  front,  the  71st  had  become  sepa- 
rated from  the  other  regiments  of  its  line  by  certain  vertical  strata 
of  limestone  projecting  in  some  cases  as  much  as  twelve  or  fifteen 

64 


PERSONAL   EXPERIENCES   AT  ANTIETAM  65 

feet  above  the  surface.  The  regiment  being  crowded  close  up  to 
the  two  front  lines,  and  therefore  fully  exposed  to  the  fire  without 
the  opportunity  to  return  a  shot,  was  ordered  down  on  its  face  to 
minimize  casualties  as  much  as  possible  till  it  should  be  needed. 
When  the  front  line  broke  and  ran  over  the  second,  and  both  came 
back  on  the  third  with  an  irrestrainable  rush  of  fugitives,  the  71st 
having  with  all  the  rest  of  the  rear  line  been  thus  crowded  up  too 
close  by  the  impetuosity  of  Sumner,  must  certainly  have  been 
demolished  had  its  discipline  wavered.  But  at  the  order  it  rose 
in  place  like  one  man  with  muskets  at  the  charge  and  firmly 
repelled  the  tumultuous  crowd,  till  it  had  passed  round  its  flanks 
when  its  fire  was  delivered  with  immense  effect  on  the  pursuing 
enemy,  themselves  disordered  by  their  rapid  advance  and  noisy 
exultation.  But  their  reserves  coming  up,  the  enemy  rapidly 
recovered  themselves,  and  were  exchanging  with  us  a  steady  and 
destructive  fire  at  short  distance,  when  observing  an  increasing  fire 
coming  from  the  left  rear,  I  climbed  a  reef  of  rock  for  a  more 
extended  view,  and  at  once  became  conscious  of  an  appalling  state 
of  facts.  On  our  left  as  far  away  as  the  eye  could  reach  all  our 
troops  had  given  way,  and  the  enemy's  pursuing  lines  were  already 
many  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  us  with  nothing  in  sight  to  stop 
them! 

Almost  at  the  same  time  Stuart's  guns,  their  first  position  hav- 
ing become  masked  by  the  advance  of  their  own  infantry,  had 
obtained  a  position  on  our  right  front,  and  now  opened  at  short 
range  with  canister,  which  partly  enfiladed  our  fast-diminishing 
line.  There  were  no  signs  elsewhere  of  a  rally  or  reinforcements, 
and  though  the  isolated  regiment  was  yet  firm,  it  must  soon  be 
destroyed  by  sheer  weight  of  fire  in  front  and  on  both  flanks,  and 
in  any  case  must  be  surrounded  in  a  few  minutes.  It  had  already 
given  a  few  priceless  minutes  of  cover  to  the  retreat  of  the  eight 
regiments  of  first  and  second  lines,  and  the  time  had  now  come 
to  save  its  gallant  remnant.  It  was  therefore  got  quickly  into 
column  of  companies  with  the  intention  of  forcing  a  way  to  the 
rear  till  some  other  solid  troops  could  be  found  to  rally  upon.  As 
the  head  of  column  was  wheeling  to  the  left  about  myself  as  pivot, 
its  killed  and  wounded  falling  at  every  step,  I  was  myself  knocked 


66  EXPERIENCES   OF   A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

over  by  a  bullet  through  the  left  shoulder.  Rogers,  the  left 
flank  sergeant  of  G  Company  was  instantly  at  my  side,  and  as 
the  blood  was  spouting  from  under  the  sleeve  at  the  wrist,  hastily 
clapped  on  a  tourniquet  constructed  of  my  pocket  handkerchief 
and  his  bayonet.  He  offered  to  remain  with  me,  and  was  inclined 
to  insist,  till  I  appealed  to  him  to  save  my  sword.  Recognizing 
that  obligation,  he  quickly  took  it  from  me,  and  rushed  after  the 
retiring  column,  and  was  scarcely  gone  till  the  enemy's  line 
marched  over  me. 

But  about  this  time  General  Meade,  whose  own  division  had 
been  used  up  in  the  two  attacks  of  Hooker,  had  got  together  a 
small  force  composed  of  the  remnants  of  various  regiments  coming 
out  in  good  order,  and  was  leading  it  forward  when  he  met  and 
seized  on  the  71st,  compact  and  in  perfect  order,  though  reduced  to 
three  officers  and  scarcely  250  rank  and  file.  This  force  continuing 
to  increase  soon  met  and  drove  back  the  disordered  Confederates 
who  again  retired  over  me  leaving  me  lying  between  two  fires. 
Twice  again  the  enemy  advanced  over  me,  and  were  as  often  re- 
pulsed and  driven  back,  finally  making  a  firm  stand  at  or  near  their 
original  position.  The  last  of  these  movements  was  by  a  heavy 
line  of  battle  composed  of  the  fresh  troops  of  'Stonewall'  Jackson 
—that  is,  if  troops  can  be  called  fresh  who  had  marched  all  night 
and  were  now  put  into  action  without  any  rest  or  intermission.  As 
this  splendid  line  moved  over  me,  a  young  lieutenant  seized  the 
occasion  to  leave  his  place  to  demand  my  sword.  When  he  learned 
that  it  was  beyond  his  reach,  he  wanted  my  parole,  which  I  refused 
to  give.  The  little  dispute  was  suddenly  terminated  by  the  arrival 
of  several  General  Officers  whom  I  took  to  be  McLaws,  Walker  and 
Stuart.  These  with  their  staffs  were  following  and  closely  watch- 
ing their  line  now  heavily  engaged  with  our  troops,  whose  balls 
were  striking  all  around  us.  Having  lost  much  blood  notwith- 
standing the  tourniquet,  suffering  intense  pain  and  barely  able  to 
whisper,  I  nevertheless  managed  to  attract  the  attention  of  one  of 
their  couriers,  who  dismounted,  ascertained  and  reported  the 
subject  of  discussion  to  Stuart,  who  inquired  of  the  lieutenant  his 
name  and  regiment.  "Hill,  of  the  12th  Georgia."  "Join  it 
immediately  sir."  The  courier  then  rearranged  the  tourniquet, 


BETWEEN  THE   LINES   SEVERELY   WOUNDED  67 

which  though  hitherto  but  partially  effective,  had  become  exces- 
sively painful,  handed  me  a  drink  from  one  of  the  Tlst's  wounded 
near-by,  who  kindly  offered  his  canteen,  and  leaving  me  in  a  much 
more  comfortable  condition,  rode  away  after  his  General. 

It  was  not  till  several  years  after  the  war  that  a  mutual  friend5 
—accidentally  hearing  the  celebrated  Confederate  guerilla,  John 
S.  Mosby,  relate  the  same  circumstance  in  connection  with  my 
name,  which  he  still  remembered — brought  us  together,  when  I 
learned  for  the  first  time  that  the  friendly  courier  had  been  no 
other  than  the  renowned  Mosby,  at  that  time  not  even  a  commis- 
sioned officer.  During  the  afternoon  the  infantry-fighting  in  our 
vicinity  was  mostly  suspended,  but  the  thin  woods  where  we  lay 
was  severely  shelled  by  the  artillery  of  both  sides,  tearing  to  pieces 
the  trees,  splintering  the  rocks  and  producing  terrible  results  on 
the  helpless  wounded  of  both  armies,  few  of  whom  in  my  vicinity 
survived  it.  After  dark  all  regular  firing  ceased,  and  some  gentle 
showers  gratefully  refreshed  such  as  were  still  alive  and  able  to 
appreciate  them.  Two  soldiers  of  the  71st  less  badly  hurt  than 
myself,  insisted  they  could  get  me  off,  if  I  was  able  to  stand,  which 
with  their  aid  I  managed  to  do,  but  as  the  ground  in  our  rear  was 
obstructed  not  only  by  the  multitude  of  dead  and  wounded  of 
both  armies  who  here  lay  thick,  but  by  branches  of  trees  and  other 
results  of  the  heavy  artillery-fire  so  long  concentrated  on  the  place, 
the  only  available  route  for  three  cripples  must  at  first  be  nearly 
parallel  with  the  enemy's  new  infantry  line,  not  fifty  yards  distant, 
and  with  no  pickets  out.  In  response  to  our  explanation  and 
request  not  to  fire,  they  called  to  us  to  "go  ahead,"  which  precau- 
tionary process  had  to  be  repeated  several  times  as  we  passed  in 
front  of  fresh  parts  of  their  line.  At  last  we  came  to  a  small  farm 
lane  absolutely  piled  with  Confederate  dead  who  had  been  there 
mowed  down  in  heaps  in  repeated  but  vain  efforts  to  take  a  Fed- 
eral battery  which  had  been  posted  at  the  head  of  the  lane.  It 
was  difficult  in  our  condition  to  crawl  over  and  through  the  two 
fences  and  these  tangled  corpses  lying  between  them  in  every  atti- 
tude of  death,  but  at  last  it  was  by  mutual  aid  accomplished,  and 

6  Bingham,  of  Lockhaven,  Pa. 


68  EXPERIENCES    OF   A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

we  came  into  a  comparatively  open  field  whence  the  hospital  men, 
fully  exposed  to  the  enemy  if  they  chose  to  fire,  were  cautiously 
removing  the  wounded.  These  men  got  us  upon  stretchers,  and 
by  an  odd  coincidence,  struck  first  upon  our  own  regimental  field- 
hospital,  set  up  in  a  small  two-roomed  negro  cabin.  Amputations 
and  operations  were  proceeding  inside  and  outside,  and  the  floor 
was  slippery  with  blood,  but  place  was  made  for  me  on  the  only 
bed,  already  occupied  by  three  wounded  officers  of  the  71st,  where 
temporary  relief  was  administered.  Before  long  an  ambulance 
was  brought  up  and  the  surgeons  decided  to  send  Lieut.  Wilson 
and  myself  in  to  the  general  hospitals  at  Keedysville.  The  vehicle 
jolted  horribly  over  the  rough  fields,  and  poor  Wilson  soon  became 
delirious  and  died  in  the  ambulance,  but  I  was  deposited  at  a 
house  where  Mrs.  Wistar  had  taken  up  her  quarters,  to  her  great 
relief,  as  I  had  been  reported  dead,  since  early  morning. 

The  churches  of  this  unhappy  village  had  first  been  appro- 
priated for  the  wounded,  then  successively  the  houses,  shops, 
yards,  and  at  last  the  streets,  leaving  a  single  track  in  the  middle 
for  the  ever-arriving  ambulances.  On  both  sides,  over  25,000  men 
had  fallen,  equal  to  about  twenty  per  cent  of  the  whole  forces 
engaged.  The  loss  of  the  Second  Corps  was  twenty-seven 
per  cent  of  its  force  engaged;  Sedgwick's  Division  alone,  which 
numbered  about  5000  men,  losing  2210  or  44|  per  cent.  The 
"present  for  duty"  of  the  Second  Corps  was  reduced  from  16,013 
on  July  31,  to  9594  on  September  30th,  of  which  loss  much  the 
largest  proportion  had  fallen  upon  our  Division.  I  cannot  now 
lay  my  hands  on  the  official  figures  of  the  71st,  but  my  recollec- 
tion is  that  it  lost  in  this  single  battle  between  fifty  and  sixty 
per  cent  of  its  force  engaged,  including  all  its  commissioned 
officers  but  three. 

Early  on  the  day  of  battle,  the  Keedysville  shopkeeper  in  whose 
house  I  found  asylum,  had  crossed  the  road  and  entered  the 
opposite  field,  where  he  was  killed  by  a  stray  cannon-shot  in  the 
presence  of  my  wife  and  his  own,  while  trying  to  see  something  of 
the  distant  battle  whose  swelling  roar  already  filled  the  air  for 
many  miles  around.  The  house  was  filled  with  wounded  officers 
of  the  71st,  even  to  the  cellar,  where  lay  the  adjutant  and  a 


RECEIVED    RANK   OF   BRIGADIER-GENERAL  69 

captain.  After  lying  here  three  weeks,  my  injured  artery  was 
pronounced  safe  for  travel,  and  I  was  carried  in  an  ambulance  to 
Hagerstown,  from  whence  in  a  box-car  filled  with  similar  convales- 
cents, Mrs.  Wistar  and  I  made  our  slow  way  via  Harrisburg  to 
Philadelphia.  Notwithstanding  the  degrading  consciousness  of 
the  large  space  in  our  lives  and  memories  appropriated  by  mere 
physical  pleasures,  I  can  never  forget  the  gratification  afforded  me 
while  lying  in  the  ambulance  at  Hagerstown,  by  Lieutenant  Kirby, 
1st  U.  S.  Art.,  who  had  the  patient  kindness  to  hold  a  cigar  for  me 
to  smoke,  being  my  first  returning  dissipation  of  the  kind,  as  I 
was  still  unable  to  raise  either  hand  to  my  face.  Poor  fellow, 
I  never  saw  him  afterwards  as  he  was  not  long  after  killed  at 
Chancellorsville,  his  excellent  battery  subsequently  becoming 
famous  at  Gettysburg  under  his  successor,  Gushing. 

After  lying  ill  a  long  time  in  Philadelphia,  suffering  much  dis- 
couragement from  my  crippled  condition,  the  right  arm  being 
already  useless  and  the  left  now  paralyzed,  with  a  very  uncertain 
sound  respecting  its  future  coming  from  the  doctors,  I  began  to 
despair  of  my  capacity  for  future  active  service,  and  forwarded  my 
resignation,  which  was  in  due  course  accepted  by  General  Sumner, 
in  General  Headquarter  Orders  of  the  Second  Corps.  This  order 
was  legally  final  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but  was  sequestered 
or  annulled  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  who  wrote 
me  to  that  effect  as  soon  as  it  came  to  his  notice,  advising  me  to 
devote  my  whole  attention  to  recovery  and  do  nothing  till  I  should 
hear  further  from  him.  As  this  unusual  course  had  given  me  fair 
reason  to  expect,  I  received  notice  in  due  time  that  my  appoint- 
ment had  been  sent  by  the  President  to  the  Senate  for  confirma- 
tion as  Brigadier-General,  to  rank  from  November  29th,  1862,  for 
services  prior  to  and  at  Antietam.  But  objection  to  confirmation 
having  been  made  by  Senator  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  an  ex- 
treme partisan,  who  held  sound  political  opinions — i.e.,  his  own — 
to  be  the  most  important  military  or  any  other  qualification,  the 
case  went  over  to  the  extra  session  called  for  the  4th  of  March, 
where  by  some  adroit  management  of  my  faithful  friend,  Senator 
McDougal  of  California,  I  was  at  length  confirmed,  but  with  eight 
dissenting  votes  in  a  Senate  that  contained  but  nine  Democrats. 


70  EXPERIENCES   OP   A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

The  nervous  power  and  sensation,  both  of  which  had  at  first 
been  destroyed  in  the  arm  last  wounded,  by  extensive  nerve 
injury,  gradually  returned  up  to  a  certain  point,  where  the  improve- 
ment stopped  and  its  condition  has  ever  since  remained  nearly 
stationary.  Though  able  to  use  it  for  many  purposes,  it  remains 
much  impaired,  particularly  in  the  fingers,  which  are  still  so  devoid 
of  sensation  as  to  prevent  or  limit  their  use  except  as  guided  by  the 
sight.  As  soon  as  I  could  manage  to  feed  myself,  and  long  before 
I  could  fasten  my  dress  or  trust  myself  on  a  horse,  I  reported  for 
duty  by  letter  and  at  the  request  of  General  John  J.  Peck,  was 
assigned  to  command  a  brigade  in  his  division,  then  engaged  in 
defending  Suffolk,  Va.,  against  the  siege  of  Longstreet.  In  pass- 
ing through  Washington  on  the  way  to  my  new  duties,  I  met 
General  Sedgwick,  just  recovering  like  myself  from  his  Antietam 
wound,  who  said  he  had  been  promised  command  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  and  had  written  me  at  Philadelphia  desiring  me  to  take  one 
of  his  brigades.  Unfortunately  it  was  too  late,  and  I  never  saw 
that  gallant  soldier  again.  He  was  killed  during  an  interval  of 
that  great  battle,  by  the  chance  shot  of  a  sharp-shooter,  at  Spott- 
sylvania  in  1864. 

My  new  command  had  been  recently  organized  as  the  'Reserve 
Brigade,'  and  was  composed  of  the  9th  Vermont,  19th  Wisconsin, 
99th  and  118th  New  York  regiments,  all  good  and  veteran  ones, 
though  somewhat  neglected  in  drill  and  unaccustomed  to  brigade 
organization.  I  found  it  holding  an  exposed  position  a  long  way  in 
front  of,  and  on  a  lower  elevation  than  its  camps,  where  it  was  par- 
tially protected  by  some  slight  earthworks,  too  much  exposed 
to  admit  of  more  work  being  done  on  them  at  present.  The 
pickets  were  sheltered  in  a  line  of  shallow  excavations  still  lower 
down  the  hill  where  they  could  only  be  relieved  at  night.  The 
ground  in  rear  of  our  line  of  battle  being  higher  on  the  hillside, 
was  so  swept  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  pickets,  concealed  in 
rifle-pits  on  the  other  side  of  the  ravine,  that  it  was  a  lively  place 
for  the  officers  who  had  frequently  to  traverse  it.  The  position 
which  was  infinitely  the  most  exposed  part  of  the  entire  line  of 
defense,  could  not  be  rectified  at  this  point  without  giving  up  the 
ravine  and  so  much  ground  as  to  expose  important  points,  and  we 


A   HUMOROUS   FLAG   OF  TRUCE   INCIDENT  71 

had  therefore  to  make  the  best  of  it.  The  abominable  condition 
was  at  length  relieved  by  our  assault  and  capture  of  Hill's  Point,  a 
vital  part  of  Longstreet's  line,  which  reduced  the  enemy  to  the 
alternative  of  retaking  it,  which  was  only  possible  with  a  greatly 
increased  force  and  heavy  loss,  or  raising  the  siege.  They  pre- 
ferred the  last  and  retreated,  closely  followed  by  us,  to  a  defensive 
position  on  the  line  of  the  Blackwater,  where  we  soon  again  con- 
fronted them.  While  in  occupation  of  our  new  line  an  amusing 
incident  occurred,  unworthy  of  history  but  not  perhaps  out  of 
place  in  this  narrative. 

A.  E.  S.,  a  Virginian  with  whom  I  had  formerly  been  on  quite 
intimate  terms  in  San  Francisco,  while  on  his  way  home  prior  to 
actual  hostilities,  had  been  arrested  on  the  Isthmus  by  some  over- 
zealous  naval  officer  and  sent  prisoner  to  Washington  on  suspicion 
of  being  about  to  join  the  Confederate  army.  S.  plead  that  he 
was  unlawfully  seized  on  his  peaceful  way  from  the  loyal  State  of 
California,  via  the  equally  loyal  State  of  New  York  to  his  lawful 
home  in  Virginia  on  private  business,  had  committed  no  act  of 
hostility  to  the  U.  S.,  and  in  the  absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary, 
was  presumably  a  loyal  citizen.  As  not  a  shadow  of  proof  was 
forthcoming  against  these  facts  and  presumptions,  the  legal  posi- 
tion was  unassailable,  and  after  some  months'  detention  he  was 
released  and  sent  through  the  various  military  channels  and  at 
length  came  to  me,  with  orders  to  deliver  him  across  the  lines  under 
flag  of  truce.  Capt.  F.,  a  gallant  young  A.  D.  C.  of  mine,  to  whom 
was  assigned  this  duty,  with  instructions  not  to  make  use  of  my 
name  unnecessarily,  placed  the  prisoner  in  a  closed  carriage  and 
with  an  escort  of  a  few  troopers  started  on  his  errand. 

The  Blackwater  is  a  deep  sluggish  stream  flowing  between  a 
low  closely-timbered  bottom  on  the  enemy's  side,  and  a  compara- 
tively high  bank  on  our  side,  clear  of  woods  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
a  mile  distant,  where  our  pickets  were  disposed.  When  the  small 
procession  emerged  into  this  open  ground  not  long  before  dark  on 
its  way  to  the  river,  the  enemy's  pickets  not  immediately  recog- 
nizing the  white  flag,  opened  fire,  which  increased  in  weight  as 
their  scattered  pickets  assembled.  Desiring  to  avoid  unnecessary 
waste  of  life,  F.  proposed  to  the  prisoner,  that  since  he,  S.,  must  in 


72  EXPERIENCES    OF    A    BKIGADE    COMMANDER 

any  case  risk  the  enemy's  fire  for  a  short  time,  he  should  take  the 
carriage  forward  alone,  giving  his  parole  to  return  it.  The  charac- 
ter of  these  two  men — both  generous  and  brave — was  inclined  to 
punctilious  exactness.  S.  moreover  possessed  a  hot,  aggressive 
temper  not  just  then  in  its  sweetest  condition,  while  F.,  valuable 
and  gallant  as  he  was,  had  on  occasions,  certain  ceremonious  tend- 
encies facetiously  designated  by  his  staff  associates  as  'the 
heavy  military.'  These  were  sure  to  crop  out  stiffly  at  formal 
military  functions,  such  as  parades,  reviews,  courts-martial,  exe- 
cutions and  the  like.  On  receiving  the  above  proposition  which 
was  sensible  enough,  since  it  would  relieve  the  innocent  escort  of 
useless  danger,  while  it  involved  not  a  particle  of  additional  risk  to 
the  prisoner,  S.  rather  airily  replied  "Are  not  your  orders  to  deliver 
me  within  the  Confederate  lines."  "Yes,  sir,  certainly."  "Well, 
sir,  if  you  will  say  you  are  afraid  to  do  that,  I  will  accept  your  prop- 
osition." "Not  at  all  sir;  if  you  put  it  on  that  ground,  I  will  see 
you  delivered  into  the  enemy's  lines  with  every  particle  of  cere- 
mony you  are  entitled  to."  The  firing  soon  ceased,  after  killing  a 
trooper's  horse  and  splintering  the  carriage  once  or  twice,  and  on 
reaching  the  river,  a  scow  was  sent  over  by  the  Confederates  for  the 
carriage.  But  before  embarking  F.  dismounted  a  couple  of  troopers 
and  placed  them  inside  the  vehicle  with  these  orders  given  in  pres- 
ence and  hearing  of  the  prisoner.  "Draw  and  cock  your  pistols. 
Your  instructions  are  to  prevent  the  prisoner  from  leaving  the 
carriage  or  communicating  with  anyone  outside  it  on  any  pretext 
whatever,  till  further  orders  from  me.  Should  he  attempt  either, 
you  will  immediately  kill  him  without  any  discussion,  and  report. 
Do  you  understand  the  order?"  "Yes,  sir."  "Repeat  it." 
"Correct." 

The  flag  was  received  by  a  Captain  of  pickets,  who  was  all  agog 
to  learn  the  significance  of  a  proceeding  attended  with  such 
ceremony  and  precaution,  but  F.  demanded  audience  of  the 
Commanding  Brigadier  General,  maintaining  that  he  carried  a 
B.  G.'s  flag,  and  would  transact  his  business  with  no  officer  of  less 
rank.  In  vain  a  sleepy  Colonel  was  hunted  up,  who  explained 
that  his  commanding  officer,  General  Jenkins,  was  many  miles 
distant,  beyond  a  muddy  cypress  swamp  almost  impassable  for 


PRESENTED   WITH   A   SWORD   BY   PHILADELPHIA^  73 

wheels.  F.  was  on  his  mettle,  and  was  not  to  be  budged  by  all  the 
Colonels  in  the  Confederacy.  "Sir,  you  must  either  accept  or 
decline  my  flag.  If  the  latter,  I  will  retire  as  I  came.  If  the 
former,  I  will  only  communicate  with  the  Commanding  General 
in  person."  As  the  position,  however  wire-drawn,  was  correct 
enough  to  be  defensible,  the  Colonel  was  by  no  means  ready  to 
refuse  a  message  which  bore  such  marks  of  importance,  and  a 
small  cavalry  escort  was  at  last  paraded,  under  whose  charge  F.'s 
carriage  and  party  spent  most  of  the  night  in  ploughing  through  a 
fearful  cypress  swamp  hitherto  deemed  impracticable  for  wheels, 
and  toward  morning  were  passed  by  the  quarter-guard  and 
reached  Jenkins'  quarters.  That  astonished  officer  hastily  came 
out  in  his  drawers  to  receive  a  dispatch  duly  heralded  by  wire, 
and  surrounded  with  such  precaution  that  it  might  be  a  proposi- 
tion for  peace,  or  any  other  fundamental  subject.  Who  could  tell? 
On  delivering  his  message,  F.  of  course  removed  the  embargo  on 
the  captive,  who  bounced  out  in  breathless  rage,  furiously  de- 
nouncing his  unheard-of  treatment.  Then  F.,  with  erect  dig- 
nity and  solemn  gravity,  proceeded  to  tell  his  side  of  the  story, 
which,  as  Jenkins  happened  to  be  blessed  with  a  fine  sense  of 
humor,  nearly  threw  that  officer  into  fits,  leaving  him  scarcely 
breath  enough  to  tell  S.  that  as  far  as  he  could  see,  he  only  got  the 
rigors  of  war  he  had  himself  required.  But  notwithstanding  S.'s 
difficult  temper  and  exacting  disposition,  he  was  a  noble  and 
gallant  man,  and  at  once  entered  the  Confederate  service,  but  was 
killed  within  a  month  in  almost  his  first  encounter. 

Before  I  had  been  very  long  on  duty  at  Suffolk  I  received  from 
a  number  of  distinguished  citizens  of  Philadelphia  a  valuable 
token  of  their  esteem  and  regard,  which,  coming  from  persons 
generally  entertaining  political  opinions  differing  from  my  own  and 
possessing  their  full  share  of  the  partisan  excitement  that  raged 
much  more  fiercely  at  home  than  in  the  army,  was  not  only  grace- 
ful and  liberal  on  their  part,  but  was  peculiarly  grateful  to  one  who 
had  been  so  recently  assailed  on  exclusively  political  and  party 
grounds  in  the  partisan  press,  and  even  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  a  handsome  and  valuable  General  Officer's 
sword,  flatteringly  inscribed,  and  was  accompanied  by  the  follow- 
ing letter,  to  which  appropriate  reply  was  made. 


74  EXPERIENCES   OF   A   BBIGADE    COMMANDER 

Philadelphia,  May  14,  1863. 
DEAR  GENERAL: 

As  the  organs  of  your  loyal  fellow-citizens,  who  acknowledge,  to  use 
their  own  language,  "the  just  claims  to  their  gratitude  of  the  brave  men 
who  hazard  their  lives  to  sustain  the  cause  of  the  Union  against  the 
unholy  rebellion  by  which  it  is  assailed,"  and  who  recognize  in  you  one 
of  its  most  gallant  defenders,  we  discharge  with  pride  the  duty  assigned 
to  us,  of  presenting  to  you  on  their  behalf,  the  sword';  which  accompanies 
this  letter  "as  a  token  of  their  respect  and  admiration." 

Knowing  as  we  do,  that  in  assuming  your  place  in  the  army  of  the 
Republic,  you  did  so,  meaning  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  patriot  soldier,  to 
perform  with  alacrity  whatever  duties  were  required  of  you  by  the 
orders  of  those  who  alone  are  constitutionally  invested  with  authority 
to  direct  our  military  operations  for  the  preservation  of  the  unity  of  our 
country,  we  have  observed  with  much  satisfaction  that  your  courage 
and  good  conduct,  rendering  you  so  eminently  worthy  of  promotion, 
have  not  been  unrequited. 

In  this  connection,  it  would  be  unjust  to  pass  over  without  especial 
commendation,  the  California  Regiment  (71st  Pennsylvania)  with 
which  your  name  has  been  from  the  first  identified :  whose  brave  men  were 
always  ready  to  follow  in  the  path  of  danger  where  you  led,  and  who,  in 
enabling  their  commander  to  attain  his  present  enviable  distinction, 
have  gained  for  themselves  enduring  renown. 

Elevated  as  you  have  been  to  a  higher  command,  we  feel  sure  that 
however  freely  your  blood  has  been  shed  on  the  memorable  fields  of  Ball's 
Bluff  and  Antietam,  there  is  still  enough  left  in  your  veins  to  enable  you 
to  wield  usefully  in  the  righteous  cause  the  weapon  which,  with  earnest 
prayers  for  your  honor  and  safety,  we  now  place  in  your  hands. 

With  the  highest  consideration  and  regard, 

We  remain 

Your  friends  and   fellow-citizens, 

WM.  D.  LEWIS 
A.  E.  BORIE 
C.  MACALESTER 
SAMUEL  L.  SHOBER 
O.  W.  D-vvis 
C.  P.  BAYARD 

Committee. 
To  GENERAL  ISAAC  J.  WISTAR, 

Commanding  the  Reserve  Brigade, 
Camp  Suffolk,  Va. 

6  This  sword,  with  appurtenances,  is  deposited  with  The  Wistar  Institute  of 
Anatomy. 


IN   COMMAND   OF   A    BRIGADE   AT    YORKTOWN  75 

Upon  the  evacuation  of  Suffolk  some  time  during  the  summer, 
my  Brigade  acting  as  rear  guard,  I  took  up  the  rails  from  many 
miles  of  railroad  track  and  shipped  them  to  the  Quartermaster  at 
Norfolk,  pursuant  to  written  orders.  But  having  mislaid  the 
order,  it  is  doubtful  with  what  success  I  could  even  now  defend 
against  a  personal  suit  for  that  spoliation,  since  the  statute  of 
limitations  does  not  run  in  favor  of  one  outside  the  jurisdiction, 
and  I  was  therefore  for  many  years  cautious  of  getting  within  the 
territorial  power  of  Virginia  Courts,  but  presume  the  facts  have 
long  since  been  forgotten  or  forgiven  by  the  present  generation. 

Major-General  Dix  having  during  the  same  season  assumed 
command  of  the  Department  of  Eastern  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  soon  after  ordered  my  Brigade  to  Yorktown,  the  Head- 
quarters of  the  military  District  of  Eastern  Virginia.  It  was 
quite  time  that  some  reforming  and  energetic  hand  should  be  laid 
upon  that  District,  than  which  none  could  certainly  be  in  much 
worse  condition.  I  transported  my  Brigade  of  four  regiments 
and  a  battery,  on  four  steamers,  and  on  calling  to  report  arrival 
to  the  Brigadier-General  in  command,  lately  a  western  newspaper 
editor,  I  found  him  lying  incapacitated  in  his  quarters  under  the 
pious  care  of  a  pretty  hard-looking  staff,  who  called  the  affliction 
'malaria, '  a  disease  which  seems  to  have  much  to  answer  for  in 
morals,  politics  and  war.  The  general  condition  of  affairs  was 
the  most  disgusting  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  military  post.  The  fort- 
ifications enclosed  perhaps  a  couple  of  hundred  acres,  inside  of 
which,  besides  the  dirty,  idle  and  neglected  troops,  were  gathered 
over  12,000  refugee  negroes  supported  in  idleness  on  Government 
rations,  and  lying  about  without  order  under  any  ragged  shelter 
they  could  get,  in  every  stage  of  filth,  poverty,  disease  and  death. 
The  roadways,  parade  ground,  gun  platforms,  and  even  the 
ditches  and  epaulements  were  encumbered  by  these  poor  wretches; 
the  soldiery  was  ragged,  filthy  and  idle,  and  unless  all  military 
signs  were  at  fault,  a  raid  by  a  handful  of  resolute  and  well-led 
men  could  have  captured  the  place,  with  all  its  stores  and  its 
3000  so-called  troops,  in  a  few  minutes.  The  corruption  under- 
neath proved  as  bad  as  the  more  patent  features  of  the  all-pervad- 
ing neglect  and  demoralization.  The  place  was  crowded  with 


76  EXPERIENCES   OF  A   BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

petty  dealers  calling  themselves  sutlers,  whose  trade  across  the 
lines  received  no  pretense  of  supervision.  Permits  to  take 
oysters  from  the  private  beds  within  our  jurisdiction  were  sold  to 
negroes  for  cash,  of  which  there  was  no  public  or  known  account- 
ing whatever.  The  thrifty  Yankee  serving  as  Post  Quarter- 
master maintained  400  negroes  on  his  pay  roll,  for  whom  he 
drew  wages  at  the  rate  of  eight  dollars  per  month  each,  to  handle 
supplies  for  a  force  not  hitherto  exceeding  3000  men  besides  the 
idle  contrabands.  With  strength  enough  to  raid  to  the  gates  of 
Richmond  and  compel  heavy  detachments  from  the  enemy's 
active  armies  to  defend  its  back  door,  our  troops  were  shut  up  in 
the  two  closed  works  of  Fort  Magruder  and  Yorktown,  watched 
by  a  petty  force,  under  a  Captain,  that  they  should  have  eaten 
up  in  a  week. 

Though  nominally  and  legally  placed  under  command  of  the 
creature  who  was  responsible  for  all  this,  I  sternly  insisted  on 
keeping  my  hard-worked  Brigade  clear  of  the  mess;  and  taking 
post  some  miles  in  front  of  the  place,  allowed  no  interference, 
and  permitted  no  person  within  its  camp  without  my  own  pass, 
keeping  my  troops  hard  at  work,  picketing,  patrolling  and  drill- 
ing. Finally,  I  made  formal  request  through  regular  channels, 
for  transfer  with  my  Brigade  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in 
place  of  which  I  was  promptly  ordered  to  assume  command  of 
the  Military  District,  my  predecessor  being  ordered  to  Washing- 
ton, where  he  was  soon  lost  sight  of  amid  the  crowd  of  politico- 
military  patriots  who  sought  to  rearrange  their  disheveled  plumage 
in  that  seat  of  Republican  patriotism  and  purity.  It  was  hard 
to  know  where  to  commence  upon  the  Augean  stables  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Eastern  Virginia.  As  the  whole  mischief  was  not  revealed 
at  once,  the  first  step  was  to  clear  out  the  fortified  places  and 
making  them  tenable  by  a  minimum  force,  obtain  the  use  of  a 
small  movable  column  for  aggressive  purposes.  For  this  purpose 
a  large  area  of  abandoned  fields,  a  few  miles  in  the  rear,  was 
surveyed  and  laid  out  in  two-  and  four-acre  lots,  with  street  and 
building  lines;  and  all  the  able-bodied  negroes  set  to  work  build- 
ing log  cabins  of  prescribed  form  and  dimensions.  To  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  place,  dubbed  by  the  soldiers  'Slabtown, '  was 


BRINGING   ORDER   OUT  OF   CONFUSION  77 

assigned  a  sergeant  with  a  small  force,  under  the  supervision  of 
an  A.  D.  C.  Oystering  permits  were  sold  by  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal to  these  people;  seeds  and  implements  were  obtained  with 
the  fund  thus  raised,  and  'Slabtown'  was  soon  in  condition  to  con- 
tain all  the  refugees  in  the  District. 

The  local  troops,  who  had  originally  belonged  to  the  4th  Corps, 
were  reorganized  and  employed,  with  a  portion  of  the  contra- 
bands, in  policing  and  clearing  up  the  fort  and  town,  and  when 
not  thus  usefully  employed,  were  kept  constantly  at  drill.  De- 
tails of  infantry  were  instructed  in  the  working  of  the  heavy  guns, 
and  troops  so  disposed  and  instructed  that  in  a  few  minutes  after 
an  alarm  from  Headquarters  every  man  was  in  his  place  on  the 
ramparts  or  in  the  reserve.  The  Post  Quartermaster's  roll  of 
400  laborers  was  cut  down  to  ten  men,  who,  with  details  of  troops 
on  emergencies,  were  found  amply  sufficient  for  all  purposes, 
notwithstanding  the  addition  of  my  Brigade  to  the  force  supplied. 
Outlying  posts  were  established,  and  an  efficient  system  of  infantry 
and  cavalry  patrols  organized  and  constantly  pushed  farther 
towards  the  enemy's  post  at  Bottom's  Bridge,  covering  Rich- 
mond. Tho  rogups  whn,  unHw  t.hp  nn.rne  of  BlltlflWj  •wo**  driving 

a  profitable  trade  across  the  lines  in  all  sorts  of  articles  contra- 
band of  war,  were  mostly  sent  out  of  the  District,  and  an  efficient 
Provost  Guard  was  organized  under  Captain  Brooks,  a  competent 
officer  of  zeal,  force  and  integrity. 

Though  these  and  many  other  reformatory  and  military 
measures  were  necessarily  carried  on  together,  with  some  appar- 
ent, but  no  real  confusion,  in  a  very  short  time  our  lines  at  Wil- 
liamsburg  were  not  only  defensible  against  a  much  superior  force, 
but  the  enemy's  raiders  were  captured  or  driven  out  of  the  Dis- 
trict, and  either  by  occupation,  patrols  or  expeditions  in  force, 
we  held  or  substantially  controlled  the  line  of  the  Chickahominy 
from  its  mouth  to  Bottom's  Bridge,  within  eight  miles  of  Rich- 
mond, and  were  able  to  take  an  active  offensive  on  both  banks 
of  York  River. 

Prior  to,  and  in  preparation  for,  General  Dix's  march  on  Rich- 
mond to  relieve  the  pressure  at  Gettysburg,  I  was  ordered  to 
capture  and  hold  the  fortified  post  at  West  Point,  the  junction  of 


78  EXPERIENCES   OF  A   BRIGADE   COMMANDER 

the  Pamunkey  and  Matapony,  where  these  rivers  unite  to  form 
the  York.  A  sufficient  number  of  steamers  having  been  col- 
lected, the  embarkation  was  so  timed  as  to  reach  the  place  at  one 
A.M.  The  wharves  having  been  burned  by  the  enemy,  a  picked 
force  was  landed  in  boats  which  drove  back  the  enemy  and 
deployed,  to  cover  the  landing.  Houses  were  torn  down  for 
material  and  in  a  few  hours  a  new  wharf  had  arisen  on  the  ruins 
of  the  old  one,  over  which  cavalry  and  artillery  were  successfully 
landed.  A  defensive  line  having  been  taken  up  across  the  point, 
a  mile  or  two  in  front  of  the  town,  troops  and  impressed  contra- 
bands were  set  at  work  and  within  two  days  I  was  able  to  report 
it  defensible  by  a  small  part  of  my  force,  leaving  the  remainder 
available  for  more  active  purposes.  I  therefore  received  orders 
to  leave  a  sufficient  force  of  infantry  and  guns  to  hold  the  place 
securely,  and  march  to  reinforce  Dix,  whose  retreat  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  York  to  Yorktown  was  covered  by  this  force,  after 
which  the  garrison  was  withdrawn  from  West  Point,  and  affairs 
resumed  for  awhile  their  former  status. 

Of  course  so  much  resolute  clearing  away  of  rubbish  could  not 

go  OU  lOIlg   wilHoiit  revising  onomloo  and.  rooietancc,    wluull  tliough 

more  or  less  annoying,  I  was  quite  prepared  for.  All  the  scamps 
collected  in  this  snug  harbor,  both  military  and  civil,  with  a  wise 
discretion  and  enlightened  regard  for  their  own  skins,  confined 
their  charges  and  imputations  to  the  troublesome  theme  of  my 
'loyalty,'  it  being  an  axiom  with  the  plundering  scoundrels  of 
that  day  that  any  coolness  or  deficiency  in  partisan  Republican 
profession  in  itself  constituted  the  most  formidable  kind  of  'dis- 
loyalty.' To  their  minds  the  most  'truly  loyal'  man  was  he 
who  asked  fewest  embarrassing  questions,  and  their  ideal  patriot 
would  be  something  like  the  late  lamented  Col.  Yell  of  Arkansas, 
President  of  the  Yellville  bank  of  Yellville,  of  whom  his  sorrowing 
eulogist  declared  that,  "our  deceased  friend  though  unable  to 
account  satisfactorily  for  the  funds  of  that  institution,  yet  showed 
by  his  remarks  upon  the  'busting'  of  the  same,  that  his  heart  beat 
warmly  for  his  native  land." 

I  seldom  took  public  notice  of  the  weak  expedients  of  the 
thieves  and  incapables  who  abused  me  after  getting  safely  out 


*   !    a 


METHODS   OP   CURING   INCOMPETENCE  79 

of  my  District,  beyond  grilling  one  occasionally,  but  it  must  be 
confessed  that  while  in  actual  contact  with  the  enemy  in  front,  I 
had  little  patience  with  revenue-hunting  rogues  in  the  rear,  and 
sometimes  did  hold  myself  justified  in  the  use  of  extra-legal  methods 
in  extraordinary  cases  both  military  and  civil.  One  of  the  former 
kind,  which  came  near  bringing  me  in  collision  with  the  legis- 
lative patriots  at  Washington,  resulted  from  an  effort  to  reform 
and  improve  the  military  service  by  applying  to  one  of  the  incor- 
rigibles,  certain  drastic  remedies  not  specially  provided  for  in  the 
Articles  of  War.  The  rogue  was  turned  in  by  his  Colonel,  who 
charged  him  with  evading  every  duty,  breaking  all  rules,  being 
useless  to  the  Government  and  a  perpetual  obstacle  to  discipline 
and  good  order,  all  of  which  was  soon  ascertained  to  be  abundantly 
true.  Now  the  Provost  Guard  was  carefully  organized  of  picked 
officers  and  men  who  had  learned  to  know  'coffee  boilers'  and 
'beats'  at  a  glance,  and  possessed  certain  remedies  which  in 
the  last  resort  sometimes  cured,  even  after  colonels  and  courts 
martial  had  abandoned  the  patient  as  worthless  and  incurable. 
To  it  therefore  the  delinquent  was  sent,  with  an  intimation  of 
his  character,  the  ineffectual  efforts  which  had  hitherto  failed  to 
make  him  useful  to  his  country,  and  the  hint  that  some  improve- 
ment might  be  effected  by  a  good  private  talking  to  from  a  couple 
of  reliable  corporals  of  the  guard.  I  noticed  from  the  Provost 
Guard  returns  next  morning  that  the  delinquent  was  'in  hos- 
pital; cause,  a  sore  back,'  and  as  hospital  cases  of  all  sorts  were 
plenty,  supposed  the  disease  would  receive  due  attention  and 
thought  no  more  of  the  matter. 

But  the  patient  was  forwarded  in  due  course  to  the  general 
hospitals,  first  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  afterward  to  Washington, 
where  some  surgeon,  who  had  probably  not  served  enough  in  the 
field  to  know  the  valuable  hygienic  and  moral  effects  sometimes 
following  a  'sore  back,'  discharged  him  from  the  service.  Not 
long  after  I  received  a  cypher  message  from  the  Department  Com- 
mander that  the  man,  together  with  his  father,  his  M.  C.  and  a 
couple  of  busybodies  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  had  reached 
Fortress  Monroe  with  passes  from  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
orders  for  me  to  arrest  and  forward  such  soldiers  as  they  should 


80  EXPERIENCES   OF   A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

identify  in  connection  with  a  certain  gross  personal  outrage  com- 
mitted on  their  suffering  client.  Of  course  a  reply  was  telegraphed 
requesting  they  should  be  sent  up  at  once  in  order  that  every 
practicable  facility  should  be  extended  them.  The  Provost 
Marshal  was  at  the  same  time  directed  to  select  two  experienced 
soldiers  of  his  guard  for  the  special  service  of  hunting  down  and 
arresting  a  certain  troublesome  guerilla  operating  in  the  vicinity 
of  our  external  lines,  the  men  to  start  at  once  by  night  and  if  not 
successful  by  the  expiration  of  ten  days,  to  report  then  in  cypher 
through  the  Colonel  Commanding  at  Williamsburg,  and  there 
await  further  orders. 

The  Washington  gentlemen  duly  arrived,  and  were  of  course 
assisted  by  an  A.  D.  C.  to  search  for  the  delinquents  among  all 
accessible  troops,  but  unaccountably  failed  to  identify  the  male- 
factors. They  were  then  advised  of  the  existence  of  sundry 
posts,  guards  and  patrols  in  the  vicinity  of,  and  outside  the 
military  lines,  for  whose  investigation  authority  would  be 
furnished,  on  receiving  a  written  acknowledgment  that  such 
dangerous  quest  was  prosecuted  by  their  own  urgent  desire 
against  the  opinions,  warning  and  advice  of  the  Commander  of 
the  District.  But  at  this  point  the  avengers — with  great  intelli- 
gence— weakened,  and  concluded  to  confine  their  researches  to 
the  safer  territory  inside  the  lines,  which  though  it  led  to  nothing, 
at  least  showed  a  commendable  prudence,  since  though  there  was 
no  means  of  knowing  what  might  have  been  the  course  pursued 
by  the  two  delinquents  if  arrested  by  civilians  on  the  enemy's 
territory,  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  much  from  their  energy, 
courage  and  manner  of  employment. 

The  District  of  Eastern  Virginia  had  of  course  been  nearly 
denuded  of  white  males  of  suitable  age  for  the  Confederate  army, 
nevertheless  there  remained  a  considerable  population,  including 
several  hundred  lunatics  in  the  State  Asylum  at  Williamsburg, 
among  whom  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  order,  and  during  the 
suspension  of  their  ordinary  resources,  to  preserve  from  absolute 
want.  Such  duties  involved  questions  of  municipal  government 
and  general  policy,  as  well  as  the  expenditure  of  government  prop- 
erty for  purposes  authorized  only  by  implication  or  not  at  all, 


UNWELCOME   NEWSPAPER  NOTORIETY  81 

where  it  was  not  difficult  to  fall  into  legal  and  other  errors. 
Whether  such  an  error  was  committed  by  me,  or  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  in  the  following  case,  each  reader  may  decide 
for  himself. 

A  lady  whose  husband  and  sons  were  absent  in  the  Confederacy 
and  her  pecuniary  resources  cut  off,  applied  to  the  Commanding 
Officer  at  Williamsburg  for  leave  to  cross  the  lines  into  the  Con- 
federacy, taking  her  family  and  household  effects  "and  a  negro 
child  six  years  old."  The  application  came  down  endorsed, 
"Approved  except  as  respects  the  negro  child."  Not  wishing  to 
decide  the  negro  question  myself,  I  forwarded  it  to  Department 
Headquarters  with  the  additional  endorsement,  "Approved,  in- 
cluding the  negro,  since  such  a  child,  if  left  behind  and  separated 
from  its  natural  protectors,  would  require  dry  nursing,  for  which 
I  possess  no  soldiers  properly  fitted."  The  application  was  dis- 
approved at  Department  Headquarters,  and  there  the  official 
part  of  the  matter  ended,  but  the  negro  question  being  at  that 
time  attended  with  much  political  excitement,  some  reporter  at 
Fortress  Monroe  got  hold  of  the  correspondence,  and  I  was  soon  in 
receipt  from  friends  at  home,  of  copies  of  a  certain  hyper-loyal 
eastern  newspaper  which,  after  printing  the  endorsements  with 
a  liberal  addition  of  capitals,  italics  and  exclamation  points,  de- 
voted a  column  or  two  to  violent  abuse  of  myself  as  a  traitor,  a 
slave-hunter,  kidnapper,  and  inhuman  tyrant,  who  abused  the 
power  entrusted  to  him  to  hunt  down,  catch,  and  return,  loyal 
and  patriotic  negroes  to  then:  cruel,  bloodthirsty  and  disloyal 
owners.  Of  course  I  threw  the  papers  in  the  fire,  but  when  soon 
after,  the  notorious  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe 
to  succeed  Foster  in  command  of  the  Department,  he  also  for- 
warded me  a  copy  with  an  unofficial  letter  stating  his  pain  at 
seeing  the  publication  and  that  if  I  had  a  reply  to  offer,  he  would 
see  it  should  receive  proper  publicity. 

This  proposition  from  a  superior  officer  came  much  nearer  to 
upsetting  my  temper  than  the  libel  itself,  and  I  wrote  an  indig- 
nant reply,  to  the  effect  that  while  holding  myself  at  all  times 
ready  to  meet  charges  or  explanations  required  by  official 
superiors,  I  owed  no  duty  to  lying  and  irresponsible  penny-a- 


82  EXPERIENCES   OF   A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

liners,  forced  by  their  trade  to  invent  such  lies  as  might  bring 
them  the  most  pennies,  and  scorned  to  notice  or  reply  to  them, 
except  by  cutting  off  the  rascal's  ears  if  I  could  get  hold  of  him. 
Butler  who  knew  me  very  well,  explained  that  I  had  misunderstood 
him;  that  he,  Butler,  wanted  no  explanation,  but  was  only  anxious 
on  my  account  to  give  opportunity  for  public  denial  or  explana- 
tion. Knowing  his  love  of  applause  and  notoriety  I  believed  as 
much  as  I  chose  of  this  explanation,  but  nevertheless  accepted 
the  apology,  and  after  giving  some  reasons  which  will  readily 
occur  to  a  humane  person,  added  the  following  strictly  legal  one: 
viz,  the  President  had  by  proclamation  announced  the  abolition 
of  slavery  throughout  the  State  of  Virginia,  expressly  excepting 
the  territory  held  therein  by  our  military  forces.  Hence  to  send 
the  negro  from  within  the  military  lines  where  slavery  had  been 
recognized  by  the  highest  civil  and  military  authority,  to  a  point 
outside  these  lines  where  having  been  abolished,  it  no  longer  had 
a  legal  existence;  was,  in  effect,  sending  the  slave  from  slave 
territory  to  free  territory,  i.e.,  from  slavery  to  freedom,  unless 
indeed  in  the  opinion  of  those  disloyal  persons  who  scoffed  at  the 
President's  proclamation  as  equivalent  to  the  pope's  fulmination 
against  the  comet.  -This  ended  the  discussion,  though  Butler 
afterwards  told  me  in  conversation  that  should  my  argument  be- 
come public,  he  feared  that  prejudiced  persons  might  regard  my 
law  as  stronger  than  my  'loyalty.' 

The  district  of  country  under  my  command  having  been  set  in 
order  and  being  well-administered  by  active  young  subalterns 
detailed  for  the  purpose,  our  troops  were  soon  in  position  to  beat 
up  the  enemy  on  his  own  ground,  and  some  or  all  available  troops 
were  kept  engaged  in  this  work  by  expeditions  of  all  arms,  some  of 
small  consequence,  and  others  taxing  all  the  resources  at  my  dis- 
posal. In  October  (1863)  such  an  expedition  was  made  in  force, 
for  the  purpose  of  breaking  up  a  body  known  as  the  Confederate 
Coast  Guard,  to  destroy  the  extensive  illicit  trade  and  blockade- 
running  of  some  of  the  maritime  counties,  and  generally  to  annoy 
the  enemy,  and  draw  away  detachments  from  his  main  armies. 
With  these  objects,  a  force  of  infantry  and  artillery  was  marched 
from  Gloucester  northward,  to  and  across  the  Piankatank  near 


CLEARING    UP   THE   DISTRICT  ABOUT   WEST   POINT  83 

its  head,  advancing  its  patrols  to  the  Rappahannock.  At  the 
same  time  two  regiments  of  cavalry,  under  Col.  Spear,  raked  the 
Mathews  County  peninsula  in  its  rear,  while  three  gunboats 
assigned  me  by  Admiral  Lee  prevented  escape  by  water.  Pretty 
much  the  whole  of  the  Coast  Guard  besides  a  small  regiment  of 
cavalry  and  other  prisoners  were  captured,  many  small  vessels 
brought  off  or  destroyed,  and  a  considerable  number  of  arms, 
cattle  and  horses  taken  and  brought  in.  The  success  was  so  com- 
plete that  it  received  honorable  mention  in  the  Annual  Report  of 
the  General-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  and  was  transmitted  to  Con- 
gress by  the  Secretary  of  War.7 

A  small  incident  occurred  on  this  expedition  possessing  some 
bearing  on  the  value  of  negro  testimony.  At  some  small  town 
an  old  fellow  who  kept  a  country  store  was  brought  up  by  some 
cavalry  soldiers,  on  the  charge  of  having  in  his  shop  a  barrel  of 
whiskey  poisoned  for  the  benefit  of  our  soldiers.  All  the  negroes 
in  the  place,  male  and  female,  crowded  in  to  swear  to  the  charge, 
but  on  cross-examination,  seemed  to  have  had  the  information 
only  from  each  other.  The  man  himself  indignantly  denied  the 
charge,  declared  there  was  no  poison  in  the  town  or  neighborhood 
and  the  story  was  a  baseless  yarn  got  up  by  the  negroes  to  make 
themselves  agreeable  and  important  to  us,  and  finally  offered  to 
drink  a  tumbler-full  himself,  provided  a  guard  should  be  assigned 
to  protect  him  till  he  should  recover  his  sobriety.  This  reason- 
able condition  was  soon  arranged,  and  the  whiskey  consumed  by 
the  delinquent  in  the  presence  of  his  smiling  family,  after  which 
the  convinced  cavalrymen  did  not  require  more  than  about  ten 
minutes  to  empty  the  barrel. 

During  the  winter  of  1863-64  my  force  consisted  of  eight  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  two  of  cavalry,  and  four  batteries  of  artillery, 
which,  though  widely  scattered,  could  generally  be  quickly  con- 
centrated for  any  movement  which  should  serve  at  the  same  time 
to  cover  the  positions  at  Williamsburg  and  Yorktown.  The  force 
had  been  hardly  worked  and  a  wide  extent  of  country  hitherto 

7  Message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  accompanying  documents, 
to  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  the  first  session  of  the  38th 
Congress.  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office,  1863,  pp.  22-3. 


84  EXPERIENCES   OF  A    BRIGADE    COMMANDER 

contributing  men,  horses  and  supplies  to  the  Confederacy  was 
more  or  less  controlled  by  combined  movements  of  cavalry  and 
infantry  so  arranged  that  the  latter,  while  moving  over  less 
actual  distances  than  the  cavalry,  was  always  ready  to  afford  it 
prompt  and  secure  support.  By  way  of  extending  these  methods, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  if  a  quick  and  secret  concentration  could  be 
effected  on  the  Williamsburg  peninsula,  a  surprise  of  Richmond 
itself,  by  a  sudden  cavalry  attack,  might  be  possible.  That  city 
lay  about  sixty  miles  beyond  our  military  line,  from  the  most 
salient  point  of  which  a  single  road,  midway  between  the  York 
and  the  James,  led  to  New  Kent  Court  House,  where  it  branched 
into  several  forks  of  which  one  led  N.W.  twenty-five  miles,  to 
Hanover  C.  H.,  and  another  fifteen  miles  to  Bottom's  Bridge  on 
the  Chickahominy,  from  which  Richmond  was  less  than  ten  miles 
distant. 

That  city,  though  capable  of  quick  reinforcements  and  usually 
full  of  detached  soldiers  and  convalescents,  was  held  by  a  small 
regular  force.  It  was  protected  by  redoubts,  strong  but  slen- 
derly-manned; the  citizens  and  government  employees,  organized 
into  infantry  battalions,  being  principally  relied  on  for  ordinary 
defense.  A  small  force,  rarely  exceeding  1500  men,  held  Bottom's 
Bridge,  to  which  they  were  pretty  closely  confined  by  our  patrols, 
but  a  strong  Confederate  Division  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  then  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Hanover  C.  H.  Thus  in  case 
of  disaster  or  delay  to  an  attacking  force  at  Bottom's  Bridge,  or 
between  that  point  and  Richmond,  the  enemy  had  upon  the 
flank  of  such  force,  and  could  readily  place  on  its  only  practicable 
line  of  retreat  at  New  Kent,  a  larger  force  moved  from  Hanover, 
over  a  line  much  better,  and  but  little  longer  than  that  from 
Bottom's  Bridge  to  the  same  point.  In  view  of  these  facts,  the 
plan  submitted  to  Department  Headquarters  was  as  follows: 
While  obscuring  the  movement  by  a  display  of  vigor  on  the 
Gloucester  peninsula,  to  effect  a  rapid  concentration  of  a  small 
column  of  all  arms  in  rear  of  the  Williamsburg  line.  The  infantry 
(two  brigades),  preceded  by  a  small  cavalry  advance  for  surpris- 
ing and  capturing  pickets,  to  march  at  10  P.M.,  February  5th, 
followed  at  daylight  on  the  6th  by  the  entire  force  of  cavalry 


THK    PLAN   FOR  A   DASH   ON   RICHMOND  85 

reinforced  to  six  regiments,  or  about  1500  men.  One  infantry 
brigade  with  most  of  the  guns,  to  take  position  at  New  Kent, 
throwing  out  strong  posts  on  all  northern  roads;  the  other  brigade 
marching  directly  on  Bottom's  Bridge  The  cavalry,  after  pass- 
ing the  infantry  on  the  6th  and  parking  its  reserve  supplies  in 
their  charge  at  New  Kent,  to  arrive  at  Bottom's  Bridge,  fifty 
miles  distant  from  Williamsburg,  at  or  before  daybreak  on  the 
7th,  seize  and  repair  the  bridge,  and  leaving  a  small  force  to  hold 
it  till  the  infantry  could  come  up,  make  a  dash  on  Richmond, 
surprise  its  defences  and  enter  the  town.  A  minute  schedule  of 
detachments  and  duty  for  the  two  hours  of  possible  occupation 
was  carefully  prepared,  and  numerous  minor  plans  arranged  for 
destroying  public  property  and  communications,  cutting  wires, 
etc.  Each  detachment  after  performing  its  allotted  task  would 
take  care  if  itself  the  best  it  could,  retreating  by  any  route  upon 
the  infantry  by  that  time  arrived  at  Bottom's  Bridge,  and  covered 
by  it  to  New  Kent,  which  would  be  firmly  held  long  enough  to 
cover  an  orderly  retirement  of  the  whole  force  on  Williamsburg. 

This  plan  with  other  minor  features  too  numerous  to  relate 
here,  was  approved  by  General  Butler  and  adopted  by  the  War 
Department  by  whom  it  was  also  agreed  that  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  under  Meade,  on  the  Rapidan,  should  make  a  simul- 
taneous demonstration  in  its  front.  The  concentration  in  rear  of 
Williamsburg  was  pushed  forward  under  cover  of  strong  and  enter- 
prising patrols  on  both  sides  the  York,  but  as  the  cavalry  rein- 
forcements and  supplies  necessarily  arrived  by  water,  it  was 
impossible  to  conceal  entirely  the  preparations  going  on  within 
the  lines,  where  some  event  of  corresponding  importance  began 
to  be  eagerly  looked  for  and  discussed. 

John  Boyle,  a  soldier  of  a  New  York  cavalry  regiment,  was  at 
that  time  confined  near  Williamsburg  under  sentence  of  death 
for  murder  and  was  to  be  executed  on  February  7.  Some  of  the 
numerous  camp  rumors  doubtless  reached  him,  and  on  the  night 
of  the  2nd  he  escaped  by  the  fault  or  connivance  of  a  sentinel, 
who  was  promptly  tried,  convicted  and  shot;  but  Boyle  remained 
at  large  and  unaccounted  for. 


86  EXPERIENCES   OF  A    BRIGADE   COMMANDER 

The  movement  took  place  as  arranged,  on  the  night  of  the  5th, 
the  advance  guard  being  sufficiently  extended  to  surround  the 
several  outposts  of  the  enemy  posted  between  Williamsburg  and 
New  Kent,  most  of  whose  men  were  killed,  captured  or  driven 
off  on  foot  into  the  woods,  all  their  horses  being  killed  or  secured. 
But  the  prisoners  captured  at  different  points  and  separately 
examined,  all  concurred  in  stating  that  Boyle,  nearly  exhausted 
by  a  close  pursuit,  had  surrendered  to  them  on  the  night  of  the 
third,  and  had  made  such  important  statements  that  he  had  been 
expressed  to  Richmond  by  relays  of  horses.  Had  this  important 
intelligence  been  sooner  received  it  would  have  deferred  the 
movement,  since  the  mere  knowledge  by  the  enemy  of  an  unusual 
concentration  of  troops  at  Williamsburg  would  naturally  prompt 
them  to  hold  with  sufficient  force  either  New  Kent  or  Bottom's 
Bridge,  and  must  have  defeated  the  enterprise,  whose  single 
chance  of  success  lay  in  surprising  the  only  practicable  crossing 
of  the  Chickahominy.  In  view  however  of  the  complicated  ar- 
rangements made  to  cut  wires,  and  especially  of  the  auxiliary 
movement  on  the  Rapidan  to  take  place  on  the  6th,  with  which 
there  was  no  possibility  of  immediate  communication,  it  was 
decided  to  proceed. 

At  four  A.M.  on  February  7th,  the  cavalry,  composed  of  the  1st 
New  York  Mounted  Rifles,  the  5th  and  llth  Pennsylvania,  the 
1st  District  Cavalry  and  two  other  small  regiments  especially 
loaned  me  for  the  enterprise,  after  a  march  of  fifty  miles  over 
winter  roads,  bivouacked  near  Bottom's  Bridge  to  wait  for  day- 
light. Its  pickets  immediately  encountered  those  of  the  enemy, 
prisoners  from  whom  reported  that  the  earthworks  and  redoubts 
on  the  Richmond  side  had  been  occupied  by  a  large  force  the  day 
before;  that  the  bridge  planks  had  been  removed,  trees  felled  into 
the  stream  and  wired  together,  covering  the  whole  front  of  the 
position.  The  only  crossing  was  by  a  long  causeway  of  approach 
constructed  through  a  swamp,  then  impracticable,  with  a  bridge 
over  the  stream  at  the  center;  the  whole  commanded  by  infantry 
and  artillery  in  entrenched  works  on  the  further  side;  the  Confed- 
erate General  Hunton  in  command.  These  facts  were  verified 
by  a  reconnoissance  at  dawn,  a  simultaneous  demonstration 


AN  INFORMER   PKKVENTS   SUCCESS  87 

against  the  bridge  serving  to  develop  the  enemy's  artillery  and 
reveal  a  large  body  of  infantry  in  position.  A  passage  could 
doubtless  have  been  forced  at  some  point  above  and  the  position 
turned,  but  instead  of  a  ten-mile  gallop  to  Richmond,  the  crossing 
and  fighting,  however  successful,  must  have  consumed  most  of 
the  day,  long  before  the  expiration  of  which  the  Richmond  re- 
doubts would  have  been  fully  manned,  the  town  safe  from  a  coup 
de  main  and  the  Hanover  division  moving  on  our  rear. 

There  remained  no  object  to  be  gained  commensurate  with  the 
loss  and  jeopardy  to  be  incurred  by  delay,  and  my  orders  were 
explicit — that  if  the  surprise  failed,  the  command  was  not  to  be 
risked  for  any  new  object.  About  10  A.M.,  therefore,  the  neces- 
sary dispositions  were  made  for  a  retreat  on  the  infantry  reserve 
at  New  Kent. 

The  enemy  promptly  crossed  the  river  in  pursuit,  pressing  the 
rear  and  flanks  so  closely  that  at  Baltimore  Cross  Roads,  a  favor- 
able position  offering,  it  was  determined  to  administer  a  check. 
The  118th  New  York,  9th  Vermont  and  llth  Connecticut  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  with  two  guns,  after  moving  across  the  large 
open  prairie  at  that  place,  were  therefore  halted  and  deployed  to 
the  rear  in  the  woods.  The  rearguard — a  detachment  of  the 
llth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry — was  here  ably  handled  by  Colonel 
Spear,  securing  ample  tune  for  these  dispositions  and  then  skill- 
fully withdrawn.  The  enemy  was  effectively  checked,  pushed 
back  with  vigor,  and  cut  off  from  his  flanking  detachments  on 
both  flanks.  These,  which  had  got  well  around  to  the  Union 
rear,  with  whose  flankers  they  were  hotly  engaged,  were  then 
attacked  with  superior  force,  broken,  pursued  and  dispersed  with 
loss.  The  command,  suffering  no  further  considerable  moles- 
tation, was  concentrated  at  New  Kent  the  same  evening,  which 
place  was  held  till  all  the  wounded  and  prisoners  had  be°n  for- 
warded and  the  cavalry  despatched  to  Williamsburg,  the  neigh- 
boring country,  mostly  forest,  affording  no  subsistence  for  man  or 
beast.  On  the  8th  the  outposts  were  drawn  in,  and  the  infantry 
retired  by  easy  marches  to  Williamsburg. 

The  demonstration  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  made  by 
part  of  the  Second  Army  Corps — in  which  my  old  regiment  was 


88  EXPERIENCES  OF   A   BRIGADE   COMMANDER 

included — on  the  6th.  It  was  embarrassed  by  difficult  streams 
and  bottomless  mud,  but  contributed  to  retard  the  detachments 
of  Confederate  troops  to  New  Kent,  which  might  have  made  our 
retreat  difficult  and  even  disastrous. 

Boyle  escaped  the  hemp  he  so  richly  deserved  and  disappeared 
for  many  years,  but  was  at  last  recognized  and  identified  in  the 
dead  body  of  one  of  the  victims  of  a  great  mine  explosion  in  Colo- 
rado, January  24,  1884. 

Thus  failed  an  enterprise  prepared  with  care  in  all  its  details, 
which  had  engaged  the  liveliest  interest  and  expectations  of  those 
to  whom  it  was  confided,  and  which  but  for  a  minute  accident 
which  none  could  have  forseen,  might  have  accomplished  memor- 
able results.  Undoubtedly  it  was  chargeable  with  a  violation  of 
standard  principles,  never  to  be  lightly  incurred,  since  it  is  but 
prudent  to  assume  that  an  adversary  will  ordinarily  meet  one's 
unwarrantable  risks  and  errors  with  the  most  appropriate  meas- 
ures. The  Confederate  division  at  Hanover  Court  House,  either 
in  consequence  of  our  destruction  of  their  telegraph  line,  or  of  the 
demonstrative  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  not 
used  in  time  to  accomplish  anything;  but  leaving  that  body 
entirely  out  of  view,  it  is  evident  that  had  the  Confederates  thrown 
directly  upon  New  Kent  Court  House  by  any  of  the  upper  roads 
the  same  Richmond  force  with  which  they  reinforced  Bottom's 
Bridge — contenting  themselves  with  a  small  defensive  force  in 
the  earthworks  at  the  latter  place — they  had  a  good  opportunity 
to  cripple  or  crush  the  single  brigade  left  in  reserve  at  New  Kent, 
and  after  thus  occupying  our  only  line  of  retreat  at  a  vital  point, 
might  have  driven  our  exhausted  Bottom's  Bridge  detachment 
back  on  that  place  and  destroyed  or  captured  it.  But  though 
the  defects  of  the  plan  which  rendered  such  a  catastrophe  possible, 
were  understood  and  foreseen,  they  were  nevertheless  accepted  as 
a  necessary  feature,  in  view  of  certain  considerations  among  which 
the  following  were  prominent.  First:  The  wires  between  Meadow 
Station  and  Richmond  were  cut  by  our  spies  on  the  night  of  the 
6th.  Second:  Our  reserve  was  only  required  to  hold  New  Kent 
for  twelve  hours,  that  is,  till  night  of  the  7th.  Third:  The  Con- 
federates were  nearly  certain  to  neglect  all  speculative  chances, 


OFFICIAL   REPORT   OF  A    RAID   ENDORSED  89 

in  favor  of  a  direct  defence  with  their  whole  force,  of  a  place  on 
the  shortest  road  to,  and  so  dangerously  near  their  Capital  as 
Bottom's  Bridge.  Finally:  The  occupation  of  the  Confederate 
Capital  for  even  two  hours,  profitably  and  systematically  used, 
would  have  been  a  fair  equivalent  for  the  loss  of  our  entire  expe- 
ditionary force. 

The  Department  Commander  did  me  the  honor  to  indorse  my 
official  report  as  follows:  (The  report  itself  was  printed  by  the 
Government  in  the  Rebellion  Record,  series  I,  vol.  xxxiii,  pp. 
146-8.) 

Hdqrs.  Dept.  Va.  and  N.  Carolina. 

Fort  Monroe,  February  12,  1864. 

Report  approved.  The  operation  was  skillfully  and  brilliantly  done. 
It  gives  the  commanding  general  renewed  confidence  in  General  Wistar 
as  commander  of  a  division. 

BENJN.  F.  BUTLER, 
Major-General  Commanding. 

On  the  same  date  he  wrote  the  following  letter  transmitting  my 
report  to  the  General-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States. 

Hdqurs.  18th  Army  Corps, 
Fort  Monroe,  February  12,  1864. 
GENERAL  : 

I  have  the  honor  to  forward  to  you,  with  commendation,  the  report 
(dated  February  9th)  of  Brigadier-General  Wistar  of  his  brilliantly  and 
ably-executed  movement  upon  Richmond,  which  failed  only  from  one 
of  those  fortuitous  circumstances  against  which  no  foresight  can  provide 
and  no  execution  can  overcome. 

By  the  corruption  and  faithlessness  of  a  sentinel,  who  is  now  being 
tried  for  the  offense,  a  man  condemned  to  death,  but  reprieved  by  the 
President,  was  allowed  to  escape  within  the  enemy's  lines,  and  there  gave 
them  such  information  as  enabled  them  to  meet  our  advance.  This 
fact  is  acknowledged  in  two  of  the  Richmond  papers,  the  Examiner  and 
the  Sentinel,  published  the  day  after  the  attack,  and  is  fully  confirmed  by 
the  testimony  before  the  Court-Martial,  before  which  is  being  tried  the 
man  who  permitted  the  escape.  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
suggestion  of  General  Wistar  in  his  report,  that  the  effect  of  the  raid  will 
be  to  hereafter  keep  at  least  as  many  Confederate  troops  around 
Richmond  for  its  defense  from  any  future  movement  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  as  we  have  in  this  neighborhood. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

BENJ.  F.  BUTLER, 
Major-General  Commanding. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK, 
Commanding  the  Army. 


90  EXPERIENCES    OF   A    BRIGADE   COMMANDER 

The  suggestion  in  my  report  alluded  to  by  General  Butler  was 
as  follows: 

The  whole  result  of  the  expedition,  in  addition  to  the  prisoners  captured 
and  a  few  refugees,  escaped  Union  prisoners,  and  negroes  picked  up  and 
brought  in,  is  the  obvious  demonstration  that  a  small  force  in  this  vicin- 
ity, actively  handled,  can  and  should  hold  a  much  superior  force  of  the 
enemy  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Richmond  inactive,  except  for  its 
defense. 


CHAPTER   V 

AT  WEST  POINT,   VA.,   AND   BERMUDA  HUNDRED 

Many  less  ambitious  attempts  made  during  the  same  winter, 
directed  upon  almost  every  point  worth  striking  within  a  radius 
of  a  hundred  miles  or  more,  met  with  better  results,  among  which 
not  the  least  difficult  and  successful  was  an  expedition  directed 
upon  Charles  City  C.  H.,  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  or  dispers- 
ing a  Confederate  cavalry  regiment  posted  at  that  place.  This 
regiment  was  constantly  raiding  upon  our  pickets  and  patrols, 
generally  advancing  by  way  of  Bottom's  Bridge,  and  quickly 
retiring  behind  the  Chickahominy  when  overmatched.  The  Court 
House  was  eight  miles  beyond,  and  nearly  south  of  the  crossing 
known  as  Jones',  or  the  Forge  Bridge.  The  bridge  had  been  de- 
stroyed, but,  in  chasing  their  detachments  over  the  river,  our 
cavalry  found  near-by  a  ford  often  used  by  them  and  practicable 
for  cavalry  at  ordinary  stages  of  water.  About  1200  cavalry 
moved  out  of  our  lines  after  dark,  and  marching  by  Slatersville, 
reached  the  Forge  crossing  at  daylight  and  made  a  dash  on  the 
Court  House,  a  small  infantry  column  being  placed  at  Slaters- 
ville by  a  rapid  march,  to  cover  and  support.  The  cavalry 
having  surprised  and  captured  or  dispersed  the  pickets  at  the 
Forge,  crossed  the  river  and  after  a  rapid  gallop  reached  and 
surrounded  the  Court  House  before  seven  A.M.,  securing  every 
man  in  the  enemy's  camp  who  had  not  been  killed,  except  three 
privates — a  measure  of  success  not  often  attained  either  on  a 
large  or  small  scale. 

During  this  winter  a  military  commission  having  been  organ- 
ized to  sit  at  Norfolk  to  try  a  Fortress  Monroe  port  captain  for 
cheating  the  Government,  the  disagreeable  duty  of  presiding  over 
it  fell  to  my  lot,  by  direct  assignment  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

91 


92  AT  WEST  POINT,   VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

Fortunately  I  had  first  had  time  to  get  my  District  so  well-or- 
ganized, and  to  get  together  such  a  capable  and  reliable  staff,  that 
it  did  not  suffer  much  during  my  necessary  absence.  The  Com- 
mission sat  over  two  weeks,  without  regard  to  hours,  using  every 
effort  of  its  own  and  allowing  every  reasonable  latitude  to  the 
Judge  Advocate,  in  the  hope  of  finding  just  occasion  for  making 
an  example  that  might  check  this  all-pervading  vice.  Sitting  all 
day  and  much  of  the  night  on  this  business,  a  volume  of  testi- 
mony was  accumulated  quite  sufficient  to  hang  many  of  the  noisiest 
loyalists  in  several  of  the  great  cities,  but  none  of  any  great  con- 
sequence against  the  particular  rogue  on  trial.  The  only  mal- 
feasance positively  fastened  on  him  was  a  probable  partnership 
with  a  sutler  in  North  Carolina  and  the  forwarding  to  him  of  mer- 
chandise on  Government  supply  vessels,  free  of  charge.  Not- 
withstanding this  failure  of  testimony,  as  there  was  little  doubt  of 
his  general  venality  and  corruption,  we  took  advantage  of  the 
single  act  proved,  to  impose  a  fine  of  $5000,  and  a  year's  impris- 
onment. But  in  framing  our  report,  which  was  unanimously 
signed,  I  took  occasion  to  refer  specifically  to  certain  pages  of  the 
testimony  transmitted,  with  a  recommendation  that  several  per- 
sons there  implicated  should  be  arrested  and  sent  to  us  for  trial. 
One  of  these,  I  remember,  was  a  prominent  and  ultra-loyal  mem- 
ber of  the  Union  League  Club  of  Philadelphia  (over  seven-eighths 
of  whose  members  were  said  at  one  time  to  be  contractors  with 
the  Government),  who  had  chartered  to  the  Government  at  the 
rate  of  $100  per  day,  an  old,  worn-out  and  leaky  canal-boat  for  a 
'rebel  prison.' 

The  testimony  showed  that  she  would  not  have  brought  over 
$75  at  a  sale  absolute;  that  she  could  not  hold  over  twenty  pris- 
oners, with  the  necessary  guards  and  attendants;  that  on  the  first 
night  of  her  arrival  in  Hampton  Roads  she  sank  at  her  moorings; 
and  that  the  owner  drew  $100  per  day  for  a  period  of  eight 
months,  during  the  whole  of  which  she  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the 
bay.  We  earnestly  recommended  that  a  chance  should  be  given 
us  at  that  particular  patriot,  and  also  at  the  Quartermaster  who 
made  the  bargain  and  approved  the  payments,  but  their  political 
opinions  and  bawling  'loyalty'  were  probably  too  correct  and 


TWO   INTERVIEWS   WITH   PRESIDENT    LINCOLN  93 

sound  to  permit  the  risking  of  their  necks  to  the  summary 
methods  of  military  justice,  as  we  never  heard  anything  more  of 
our  report  and  its  suggestions. 

It  is  probable  there  was  never  a  great  war  conducted  by  any 
civilized  nation  at  once  so  extravagantly,  inefficiently  and  cor- 
ruptly, as  ours.  In  each  of  those  respects  the  volunteer  system 
itself,  as  put  to  use  by  us,  is  the  worst  and  most  wasteful  that 
any  ordinary  ingenuity  could  devise.  After  extensive  oppor- 
tunities of  observation,  I  believe  it  is  speaking  within  bounds 
to  say  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  officers  thus  obtained 
are  morally  or  physically  worthless  and  must  be  sloughed  off  at 
the  cost  of  great  delay  and  expense  to  give  ordinary  efficiency  to 
the  remainder.  The  system  of  commissioning  the  promoters 
of  enlistments  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  they  obtain,  or 
in  accordance  with  the  votes  of  those  under  their  command, 
was  not  only  fatal  to  all  discipline,  even  with  individuals  other- 
wise fairly  qualified,  but  brought  into  responsible  positions  a 
lot  of  rascals  whose  worthlessness  paralyzed  the  army  till 
means  could  be  devised  for  weeding  them  out  and  filling 
their  places  with  others  more  in  accord  with  the  views 
and  necessities  of  the  general  officers  responsible  for  their 
conduct. 

Not  long  after  Baker's  death,  President  Lincoln,  having  heard 
of  some  acts  or  observations  of  mine  on  the  weakness  of  our 
volunteer  troops  in  regimental  officers,  invited  me  to  a  private 
audience,  and  on  two  occasions  gave  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  time  and  capacity  to  a  discussion  of  the  best  means  of  remedy- 
ing a  difficulty  which  he  had  before  heard  of  and  which  lay  deep, 
because  inherent  in  the  original  methods  of  organization.  Great 
generals  of  course  are  nascitur  non  fit,  but  line  officers,  important 
as  they  are,  can  to  a  certain  extent  be  improvised  at  will,  and 
their  excellence  and  value  will  much  depend  on  the  methods 
employed  for  selecting  them  from  the  mass  of  population  about 
to  essay  its  fighting  qualities.  Many  of  our  regiments  were 
doomed  to  inferiority  before  they  left  their  native  States,  by  the 
mode  of  enlisting  men  and  electing  officers,  and  when  they 
approached  the  theatre  of  war  and  would  have  been  of  priceless 


94  AT   WEST  POINT,   VA.,    AND   BERMUDA   HUNDRED 

value  for  instant  use,  their  responsible  places  being  already  filled 
with  incapables,  precious  time  had  to  be  wasted  while  some  quick 
and  ready  method  could  be  contrived  for  undoing  what  had  been 
so  badly  done.  When  the  State-raised  regiments  came  suddenly 
under  control  of  the  General  Government  and  were  found  to  a 
great  extent  unfit  for  immediate  use,  there  existed  only  two  legal 
methods  for  correcting  these  inherent  mischiefs  of  organization, 
both  of  which  presented  insuperable  difficulties.  Courts-martial 
could  be  assembled  to  try  officers  on  specific  charges,  but  besides 
the  impolicy  of  discouraging  volunteering  by  subjecting  a  large 
number  of  officers  to  trial  on  such  indefinite  charges  as  mere 
unfitness  or  incapacity,  this  plan,  by  taking  useful  officers  away 
from  their  daily  duties  to  constitute  such  tribunals,  would  for  a 
time  at  least,  aggravate  the  difficulty. 

To  use  the  President's  power  of  arbitrary  removal  in  such  a 
vast  number  of  cases,  where  judgment  could  only  be  based  on  the 
reports  of  others  transmitted  through  many  hands,  themselves  un- 
known, would  be  to  invite  intrigue,  combinations  and  injustice, 
to  discourage  and  discredit  the  volunteer  system,  to  which, 
whether  good  or  bad,  the  country  was  for  the  time  committed, 
and  to  subject  conscientious  and  self-respecting  officers  to  such 
intolerable  uncertainty  of  tenure  and  reputation  as  to  drive  out 
the  good  who  were  indispensable,  rather  than  the  bad  whom  it  was 
desired  to  reach.  Ultimately,  and  not  a  day  too  soon,  the  plan  was 
devised  by  General  McClellan  and  enacted  into  law,  of  appointing 
special  commissions,  before  whom  officers  might  be  sent  by  their 
superiors  for  examination.  Thus,  while  ostensibly  examining  on 
technical  points,  scope  was  given  for  the  final  decision  to  include 
those  points  of  fitness  and  capacity  for  exercising  authority, 
which  though  by  no  means  the  least  essential  qualities,  are 
among  the  most  difficult  to  deal  with  on  formal  charges  and 
specifications. 

Until  this  timely  remedy  was  contrived  and  adopted,  regimental 
commanders  were  put  to  all  sorts  of  shifts  to  get  rid  of  a  certain 
kind  of  official  rascals  whose  mere  presence  with  their  men  was 
injurious  and  intolerable.  I  have  myself  had  to  drive  such  fel- 
lows away  without  a  shadow  of  legal  warrant,  by  simply  putting 


OBSERVATIONS  ON   INEFFICIENT   METHODS  95 

them  out  of  the  camp,  threatening  personal  vengeance  if  they 
returned,  and  dropping  them  quietly  (but  illegally)  from  the 
rolls. 

Of  course  nothing,  not  even  waste  of  time  or  infirmity  of  pur- 
pose, can  be  more  dangerous  or  more  expensive  to  a  non-military 
people  required  suddenly  to  exert  its  strength  in  war,  than  any 
kind  of  artificial  or  preventable  inferiority  of  its  troops;  but  next 
to  such  defects  in  the  fighting  ranks  themselves,  must  be  classed 
the  injudicious  methods  and  political  appointments  resorted  to 
without  any  real  necessity,  for  suddenly  increasing  to  the  enor- 
mous dimensions  required,  the  general  staff  departments  for  arm- 
ing, feeding,  clothing  and  transporting  the  troops.  I  think  no 
intelligent  person  who  has  had  full  opportunity  of  inside  observa- 
tion can  avoid  the  conclusion — of  course  much  more  obvious 
after,  than  before — that  a  large  part  of  the  inefficiency,  extrava- 
gance, waste,  and  even  corruption  in  those  Departments,  which 
nearly  ruined  the  North,  and  quite  destroyed  the  South,  might 
have  been  avoided;  the  mobility  and  power  of  the  army  doubled, 
and  perhaps  quite  half  the  enormous  and  wholly  unique  cost  of 
the  war  escaped,  had  there  been  an  orderly,  legal  method,  leisurely 
prepared  in  time  of  peace,  for  expanding  these  several  business 
Departments  on  a  sudden  emergency,  by  a  system  of  competitive 
test  of  persons,  always  ready  for  instant  application.  Of  course 
in  war,  as  in  politics,  the  world  is  full  of  noisy  humbugs  who,  if 
they  can  get  themselves  trusted  with  the  public  sledge-hammer, 
are  capable  of  using  it  without  immediately  and  visibly  breaking 
their  own  heads,  but  something  more  than  that  ought  to  be  ex- 
pected and  required  from  responsible  statesmen,  legislators,  and 
executives,  whose  self-assumed  business  it  is  to  organize  the 
country's  strength,  administer  its  resources,  and  launch  both 
against  its  enemies  under  trustworthy  and  competent  super- 
intendence. 

During  the  last  weeks  of  the  winter  of  1863-4,  the  enemy  had 
been  hunted  up  and  pushed  so  often  and  so  far,  that  there  was 
little  of  suitable  dimensions  now  left  to  strike  at,  within  reason- 
able distance.  It  was  generally  understood  that  large  movements 
and  plenty  of  work  would  be  undertaken  when  the  weather  and 


96  AT   WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

roads  should  become  settled,  and  in  the  meantime  without 
remitting  the  constant  drilling  and  instruction  of  the  troops,  I 
applied  myself  to  complete  the  various  arrangements  heretofore 
put  in  train  for  the  orderly  civil  government  of  the  District. 
Slabtown — if  not  exactly  metropolitan — had  become  large  and 
populous,  and  was  clean,  quiet,  and  to  a  considerable  extent, 
self-supporting.  It  was  well-policed  by  a  small  force  of  selected 
negroes,  chosen  by  the  Provost  Marshal,  and  the  most  capable 
residents  were  from  time  to  time  placed  on  abandoned  and  un- 
occupied farming-lands  outside  the  town.  These  were  supplied 
with  implements  and  seeds  procured  by  aid  of  the  'Provost 
fund,'  and  also  with  such  captured  and  inferior  animals  as  were 
no  longer  capable  of  road  work  or  useful  for  military  purposes, 
under  written  agreements  to  deliver  one-half  their  crops  to  the 
Government  or  its  agents  at  the  nearest  place  of  shipment. 

The  Provost  fund,  consisting  of  the  proceeds  of  licenses  and 
taxation,  collected  by  the  Provost  Marshal  and  accounted  for 
monthly  to  Department  Headquarters,  now  yielded  several 
thousand  dollars  a  month,  largely  derived  from  the  sale  of  licenses 
for  fishing,  oystering,  trading  and  so  forth.  The  orderly  condition 
of  the  place  and  the  prosperity  of  much  of  its  large  negro  popu- 
lation had  attracted  from  the  enterprising  people  of  New  England, 
numerous  cranks  or  self-styled  missionaries  of  both  sexes,  who 
infested  Slabtown  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  and  as  a  rule,  were 
by  no  means  averse  to  extracting  a  pecuniary  profit  from  their  pious 
labors.  Though  some  of  these  were  unmitigated  scamps,  others 
no  doubt  really  believed  in  the  equality  or  superiority  of  the  negro 
race,  and  that  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  demonstration  of 
that  new-found  fact,  was  to  teach  the  darkey  to  sing  hymns  and 
read  the  newspapers,  while  supported  at  public  expense,  i.e.,  by 
the  white  laborer  and  taxpayer.  As  the  delusion  at  first  seemed 
harmless,  and  at  all  events,  was  none  of  my  business,  the  mis- 
sionaries were  received  and  sent  as  fast  as  they  arrived,  to  live 
among  their  chosen  clients  at  Slabtown,  and  little  attention  was 
given  them,  till  one  day  an  investigating  A.  D.  C.  reported  that  a 
certain  missionary  named  C.  had  got  nineteen  negroes  of  both 


CORRUPT  MISSIONARIES   IN   A   NEGRO   SETTLEMENT  97 

sexes  and  all  ages  tied  up  to  trees,  for  refusing  to  let  him  re-marry 
them  for  a  fee  of  twenty-five  cents  a  pair. 

Though  the  price  did  not  seem  unreasonable  for  a  good  article 
of  connubial  felicity,  backed  by  a  solid  New  England  guarantee, 
it  was  but  fair  to  the  negroes  to  ascertain  what  sort  of  title  they 
were  getting;  and  when  the  reverend  rogue  was  brought  to  book, 
it  appeared  he  had  convinced  the  poor  darkeys  that  the  principal 
thing  required  to  make  them  equal  to  whites,  was  to  be  re-married 
by  him  for  a  cash  consideration.  Commencing  with  a  five-dollar 
fee,  he  had  for  a  tune  done  a  brisk  and  thriving  business,  but  the 
price  had  gradually  fallen  with  the  increasing  reluctance  of  the 
old  black  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  to  shell  out  their  hard- 
earned  cash,  till  even  at  the  present  modest  rate,  the  demand  had 
so  declined  that  some  forcible  stimulation  had  become  necessary. 
This  thrifty  moralist  was  of  course  expelled  from  the  District  and 
the  negroes  a  second  time  emancipated,  but  his  prayers  must  have 
exerted  more  influence  with  the  Washington  statesmen  than  in  the 
quarter  where  they  were  more  properly  due,  since  he  came  back  in 
a  short  time  with  an  appointment  as  "Superintendent  of  Negro 
Affairs,"  and  authority  to  disport  himself  among  the  negroes  and 
their  savings,  at  his  will.  As  active  military  preparations  for 
large  operations  had  already  commenced,  there  was  then  little 
time  to  devote  to  such  predaceous  insects  and  in  the  pressure  of 
other  business  he  was  allowed  to  resume  his  residence  at  Slabtown 
on  the  promise  not  to  meddle  with  black  men's  pockets  as  long 
as  I  remained  responsible  as  commander  of  the  Military  Dis- 
trict. It  was  not  till  long  after  the  vicinity  had  been  evacuated 
by  the  advancing  troops,  that  I  learned  through  my  successor, 
General  Ord,  that  this  reverend  gentlemen's  pecuniary  enter- 
prises, thus  deprived  of  salutary  supervision,  at  last  reached  a 
stage  which  after  exhausting  the  humble  resources  of  the  negroes, 
successfully  attacked  the  coffers  of  the  Government  itself,  by 
appropriating  its  share  of  the  crops  of  its  negro  wards,  or  a  large 
part  of  them. 

In  April,  1864,  numerous  regiments  and  batteries  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  Department,  were  sent  me  to  be  organized  and 


98  AT  WEST   POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA  HUNDRED 

Brigaded  into  the  18th  Army  Corps,  which  it  was  understood 
was  to  be  commanded  by  the  able  and  well-known  General  Wil- 
liam F.  Smith,  then  wearing  his  freshly-won  Chattanooga  laurels, 
at  which  place  by  rescuing  the  communications  of  the  Western 
Army  he  had  saved  the  army  itself  and  thus  rendered  possible 
its  subsequent  success.  Many  of  the  regiments  were  old  ones 
recently  filled  up  with  drafted  or  kidnapped  men  by  certain  in- 
iquitous practices  first  made  known  to  me  by  the  following 
circumstance  which,  in  the  interests  of  humanity,  one  may  hope 
could  scarcely  happen  outside  of  a  free  (?)  Republic.  A  New 
Hampshire  regiment  one  night  reported  its  arrival  and  was 
posted  by  one  of  the  staff  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  fort,  to  be 
inspected  and  provisionally  brigaded  next  day.  But  early  in 
the  morning  the  Colonel  personally  reported  that  eighty  of  his 
men  had  deserted  during  the  night!  In  reply  to  some  sharp 
strictures  on  the  quality  and  discipline  of  a  regiment  in  which 
such  things  could  happen,  he  explained  that  his  command  was 
an  old  and  good  one  of  long  service,  but  having  been  reduced  by 
various  casualties  to  barely  150  men,  had  just  been  filled  up  with 
600  drafted  men.  These  were  foreigners,  mostly  speaking  foreign 
languages,  who  had  been  drugged  and  kidnapped  in  New  York, 
there  purchased  by  the  '  quota  agents'  of  his  State,  their  muster 
papers  regularly  made  out,  then  heavily  ironed,  confined  in  box 
cars,  and  shipped  like  cattle,  to  his  regiment. 

All  this  proved  on  inquiry  to  be  true.  One  could  not  but  sym- 
pathize with  the  poor  wretches  thus  maltreated  on  their  arrival  in 
a  land  whither  many  of  them  had  probably  fled  to  escape  a  much 
milder  military  service  at  home;  nevertheless  their  chains  had  been 
forged  by  experienced  hands  and  were  without  a  flaw.  They 
came  to  me  with  all  regular  forms  complete,  as  duly  enlisted,  sworn 
and  mustered  soldiers  of  their  regiment,  and  I  was  bound  by  every 
consideration  of  oath  and  duty  to  treat  them  as  such  until  dis- 
charged, regardless  of  their  individual  misfortunes.  The  deserters 
were  of  course  trying  to  get  to  the  enemy,  but  must  all  be  retaken 
sooner  or  later  by  our  pickets  or  patrols.  Should  their  escapade 
be  allowed  to  pass  without  special  attention,  as  might  have  been 
possible  under  almost  any  other  circumstances,  the  offense  would 


THREE   DESERTERS   SHOT  AT   SUNRISE  99 

be  repeated  indefinitely  by  them,  as  well  as  by  the  hundreds  of 
similar  unfortunates  drafted  like  them  into  other  regiments,  and 
must  at  last  be  stopped  at  any  cost,  even  by  wholesale  executions, 
if  required. 

It  was  therefore  not  merely  in  the  interest  of  the  Government, 
but  of  humanity  as  well,  that  I  felt  that  such  an  example  must  be 
made  of  a  few  of  those  first  caught  as  might  serve  to  cut  short  the 
contagious  and  dangerous  defection.  The  opportunity  was  not 
long  delayed.  Three  poor  devils  were  brought  in  that  evening, 
immediately  tried  by  special  court  martial,  found  guilty,  con- 
demned to  death,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  at  sunrise  next  morn- 
ing, in  presence  of  their  regiment.  I  approved  the  conviction  and 
sentence,  as  plainly  authorized  to  do  by  the  Sixty-fifth  Article  of 
War;  but  to  avoid  all  question  of  authority,  telegraphed  the  facts 
and  my  intention  to  execute  the  sentence  to  the  Department- 
Commander  at  Fortress  Monroe.  General  Butler  wished  the 
execution  deferred  till  he  could  receive  and  examine  the  record, 
but  feeling  very  clear  both  as  respected  my  authority  and  duty,  I 
declined  to  so  do  on  the  ground  that  the  efficacy  of  the  punishment 
as  a  deterring  influence,  lay  mainly  in  its  immediate  infliction,  and 
plainly  stated  that  if  restrained  in  this  exercise  of  judgment,  I 
should  decline  further  responsibility  for  the  troops  in  this  condi- 
tion, and  would  ask  the  favor  of  an  immediate  assignment  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Butler  then  contented  himself  with  requir- 
ing the  record  of  conviction  to  be  telegraphed  him,  which  process 
went  on  through  the  remainder  of  the  night  and  was  still  being 
conducted  long  after  the  culprits  had  ceased  to  exist. 

One  reason  for  such  unamiable  firmness  in  the  matter,  was  the 
prevailing  feeling  that  among  so  many  newly-drafted  reinforce- 
ments, the  prisoners  could  not  be  publicly  executed  without  in- 
subordination and  perhaps  mutiny.  Even  so  good  an  officer  as 
the  colonel  of  their  regiment,  while  concurring  in  other  respects, 
begged  that  the  execution  might  be  private,  or  at  least  not  in 
presence  of  his  regiment,  which  he  feared  might  not  be  controllable. 
But  his  reason  for  privacy  was  mine  for  publicity,  since  the  very 
existence  of  such  doubts  rendered  it  all  the  more  imperative  that 
the  entire  command  should  know  by  exhaustive  public  test, 


100  AT   WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

whether  the  Government  with  its  officers,  order  and  authority, 
was  or  was  not  stronger  than  the  mutinous  conscripts  and 
drafted  men,  of  whom  the  army  was  likely  to  become  more  and 
more  composed. 

The  place  of  execution  was  selected  near  the  center  of  a  level 
plain  south  of  the  fortifications,  extending  from  the  high  banks  of 
the  York  estuary  to  a  woods  half  a  mile  distant.  Prior  to  the 
appointed  hour,  all  troops  having  been  first  paraded  in  their  respec- 
tive camps,  and  the  streets  commanded  by  reliable  artillery,  the 
deserters'  regiment  was  drawn  up  in  line  a  few  paces  from  the  spot 
occupied  by  the  prisoners,  and  a  firing-party  from  their  own  regi- 
ment, closely  watched  by  a  picked  detail  of  the  provost  guard. 
Opposite  the  flank  of  this  regiment  and  at  right  angles  with  it, 
were  posted  two  reliable  regiments  of  my  old  brigade,  one  deployed 
in  line  of  battle  with  a  section  of  artillery  in  its  center,  the  other  in 
two  columns  each  doubled  on  the  center,  in  rear  of  the  respective 
wings.  A  few  squadrons  of  cavalry  were  drawn  up  at  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  a  field  battery,  harnessed 
and  mounted,  was  placed  in  position  in  the  nearest  bastion  of  the 
fort,  and  another  was  harnessed  and  standing  ready  on  the  road 
inside  the  nearest  gate.  It  did  not  require  a  very  experienced 
military  eye  to  perceive  that  in  case  of  any  mutinous  demonstra- 
tion by  the  offending  regiment,  it  could  be  mowed  down  by  the 
enfilading  fire  of  the  regiment  and  guns  on  its  flank,  and  if  it 
broke,  could  be  annihilated  by  the  charge  of  the  two  infantry 
columns,  and  every  straggler  cut  down  or  captured  -by  the  cavalry 
in  rear.  The  disposition  being  effectually,  and  therefore  mer- 
cifully made,  the  ceremony  was  conducted  deliberately  and 
with  perfect  regularity.  The  men  fell  dead  at  the  first  dis- 
charge, and  were  buried  where  they  fell,  not  another  sound 
being  audible  from  first  to  last,  but  the  necessary  officers'  orders, 
till  quick  time  beaten  by  the  drum  corps  announced  the  cere- 
mony completed. 

The  results  justified  the  painful  harshness  of  this  measure.  All 
the  other  deserters  were  captured  and  brought  in  within  a  few  days 
and  received  less  severe  punishment,  and  not  another  desertion 
occurred  except  on  a  single  occasion  some  weeks  afterwards,  when 


A   PERSONAL   LETTER  TO   GENERAL  DIX   PUBLISHED  101 

thirty-four  of  the  same  class  of  men  deserted  from  a  Connecticut 
regiment  while  in  action  at  Drury's  Bluff,  but  were  mostly  killed 
by  our  fire  while  running  for  the  enemy's  line.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  necessities  of  the  service  and  the  interest  of  the  Government 
and  country,  I  believe  that  many  lives  were  saved  by  this 
timely  severity,  and  have  always  felt  fully  justified  in  it,  even 
regarded  as  a  measure  of  humanity  alone.  But  it  was  none  the 
less  an  infamous  outrage  not  only  on  the  poor  ignorant  victims,  but 
on  commanding  officers  constrained  to  such  painful  measures, 
that  these  should  be  rendered  necessary  by  the  base  acts  of  those 
quota-hunting  villains  in  northern  cities,  who,  if  justice  could  have 
been  done,  would  have  first  felt  the  halter.  Smarting  under  this 
feeling  I  wrote  an  indignant  but  unofficial  letter  to  Major-General 
Dix,  then  commanding  at  New  York,  setting  forth  the  violence 
and  fraud  by  which  emigrants  and  other  friendless  persons 
were  dragged  against  their  will  into  the  service,  by  outrages 
committed  in  New  York,  worse  than  any  acts  of  the  old  British 
naval  press-gangs,  and  the  responsibilities  thus  imposed  on 
commanding  officers  charged  with  the  duty  of  receiving  such 
so-called  recruits. 

This  letter  was  published  by  the  press  of  New  York  presumably 
with  the  consent  of  General  Dix,  and  found  its  way  into  the 
English  and  Continental  papers.  Worse  still,  the  Earl  of  Peter- 
borough read  it  from  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  as  a  state- 
ment by  an  "American  officer  somewhat  less  cruel  and  brutal 
than  his  fellows,"  of  the  modes  by  which  the  Americans  forced 
innocent  foreigners  into  their  internecine  quarrels,  with  a  cruelty 
and  disregard  of  human  life  and  rights  more  infamous  than  any 
European  despot  had  dared  to  practise  during  modern  times,  &c., 
&c.  As  all  this  came  back  in  due  course  to  the  American  papers, 
I  expected  to  get  a  wooling  from  the  War  Department,  but  as  I 
never  heard  from  it  on  the  subject,  presume  their  attentions 
were  bestowed  on  General  Dix,  through  whose  indiscretion — or 
humanity — my  letter  could  alone  have  reached  the  printer. 

Though  the  mixture  of  civil  and  military  duties  on  the  Virginia 
Peninsula  had  separated  me  for  eight  months  from  my  comrades 
and  friends  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  they  were  not  otherwise 


v  ;*••"*»•** 

*  *-  **  t  /         ,  \*    i-  v1*  «••'   *-  * 

X-:,^"-;=   t  -  '^ 


102  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

disagreeable,  except  for  the  effect  of  that  malarial  region  on  my 
health.  During  this  period  I  had  suffered  pretty  much  every 
variety  of  fever  and  diarrhea  and  pulled  through  them  all  with 
more  or  less  residuum  of  damage.  During  a  few  months,  chiefly 
in  the  previous  autumn,  three  acres  had  been  filled  with  the  graves 
of  soldiers  of  my  command — which  had  scarcely  at  any  time 
exceeded  6000  men — notwithstanding  most  of  the  regiments  had 
been  frequently  interchanged  with  those  from  the  more  salubrious 
regions  of  the  North  Carolina  Coast.  Quinine  was  daily  served  at 
reveille,  at  first  in  whiskey  and  afterwards  more  surely  and  bene- 
ficially in  coffee.  Troops  and  quarters  were  constantly  inspected 
and  absolute  cleanliness  of  camp,  clothing  and  person  rigidly 
enforced.  The  frosty  weather  of  winter  much  improved  the 
general  health,  but  with  the  return  of  spring  the  old  symptoms 
reappeared,  and  the  organization  of  the  18th  Army  Corps  was 
hailed  by  all  ranks  as  evidence  of  approaching  movement  and 
change  of  scene. 

I  was  myself  relieved  from  command  of  the  District  by  General 
Order  of  April  19th,  1864,  and  on  the  21st  was  reassigned  to  the 
command  of  the  Second  Division  18th  A.  C.  composed  of  my  old 
brigade,  now  consisting  of  the  2nd  and  12th  New  Hampshire, 
llth  Conn,  and  148th  New  York  regiments  under  Col.  Stedman 
as  Brigade  Commander,  and  General  Heckman's  Brigade  of  the 
9th  New  Jersey,  23rd,  25th  and  27th  Mass.  On  May  4th,  the 
Division  with  the  remainder  of  the  Corps  under  command  of 
Gen.  W.  F.  Smith,  sailed  in  transport  steamers  for  the  James 
River,  where  they  were  joined  by  the  10th  Corps  under  General 
Gilmore,  the  whole  constituting  the  newly  organized  Army  of  the 
James,  commanded  by  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler.  During  the  night  of 
the  5th,  a  landing  was  effected  at  Bermuda  Hundred  and  the 
position  at  once  entrenched.  On  the  6th,  I  was  ordered  by 
General  Butler  to  make  a  reconnoissance  with  two  regiments  and 
if  possible  destroy  the  railroad  between  Petersburg  and  Rich- 
mond. This  movement  failed  with  loss,  notwithstanding  my 
best  efforts,  in  consequence  of  the  smallness  of  the  force,  which 
might  just  as  well  have  been  a  Division,  since  the  other  troops 
were  at  the  time  unemployed,  except  in  entrenching.  Next  day 


A    SUDDEN    AND    IMPRESSIVE    DEATH  103 

I  was  ordered  to  repeat  the  effort  with  a  brigade,  and  after  some 
sharp  fighting  about  two  miles  of  road  was  destroyed  by  throwing 
that  much  of  the  track,  ties,  rails  and  all,  over  an  embankment; 
but  being  hard  pressed  by  the  enemy  in  nearly  or  quite  equal 
force,  no  opportunity  was  afforded  for  burning  ties  and  bending 
rails  effectually  without  suffering  greater  loss  than  the  occasion 
justified. 

It  was  in  this  fight  that  I  happened  to  notice  personally  the  par- 
ticulars of  a  remarkably  sudden  and  impressive  death.  I  was 
myself  riding  with  the  skirmish  line  some  distance  in  advance  of 
the  line  of  battle,  endeavoring  to  get  some  knowledge  of  the  topog- 
raphy in  front.  The  line  of  skirmishers  had  just  emerged  from  a 
thick  wood  into  a  small  road  running  parallel  with  it.  The  other 
side  of  the  road  was  bounded  by  a  high  Virginia  rail-fence,  beyond 
which  were  some  open  fields  with  the  railroad  embankment  on  the 
far  side.  The  embankment  was  at  the  moment  rather  weakly  held 
by  the  enemy's  infantry,  but  a  battery  at  some  distance  to  the  right 
front,  immediately  opened  a  partially  enfilading  and  rather  destruc- 
tive fire  with  shell,  down  the  road.  I  called  a  soldier  to  throw  off 
some  rails  that  I  might  cross  the  fence,  which  stood  on  a  high  bank 
and  was  impracticable  for  a  horse  to  jump  from  the  road.  The 
soldier  had  scarcely  seized  a  rail  for  this  purpose,  when  there  was 
a  sudden  crash  and  blaze  of  fire,  and  I  found  myself  covered  with  a 
shower  of  splinters  and  half-rotten  wood.  Right  at  my  horse's 
feet  lay  the  soldier,  still  enveloped  in  his  blue  overcoat  and  appa- 
rently uninjured,  but  a  second  glance  showed  that  his  head  had 
vanished  altogether,  and  in  its  place  projected  the  long  white 
bone  of  the  neck — hot  and  smoking!  A  shell  had  struck  and 
knocked  to  pieces  the  fence,  and  either  the  missile  or  some  part  of 
the  fence  had  entirely  carried  away  the  soldier's  head,  the  shell 
itself  bursting  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  among  the 
skirmishers,  but  without  doing  further  mischief.  No  death 
could  be  more  sudden  or  impressive  to  the  bystander.  The 
ominous  and  warning  shriek  or  whistle  of  the  shell  was  lost  in 
the  volume  of  infantry-fire  about  the  place,  and  the  victim 
could  not  have  suffered  a  thrill  of  pain,  or  even  a  single  instant 
of  apprehension. 


104  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

The  same  evening  of  this  little  success  in  breaking  the  railroad, 
General  Butler  found  it  expedient  to  divulge  to  me  a  small  scheme 
of  his  own  affecting  myself  and  others,  which  had  no  doubt  long 
been  a  favorite  with  him,  since  it  must  have  required  at  least  a 
month  of  secret  preparation.  It  eventually  appeared  that  his 
main  object  was  to  get  back  under  his  command  General  Weitzel, 
a  former  and  favorite  instrument  of  his  at  New  Orleans;  and  part 
of  the  original  plan  consisted  in  inducing  me  to  give  up  my  Divi- 
sion to  that  officer  and  accept  command  of  the  Third  Division. 
This  latter,  however,  though  much  stronger  in  numbers,  was  com- 
posed of  negroes,  dressed  up  like  soldiers  and  euphemistically 
styled  'Colored  Troops.'  In  numbers  it  was  the  strongest  in  the 
corps,  never  having  suffered  any  considerable  casualties;  but 
having  formerly  had  the  assistance  of  one  of  its  brigades  in  action, 
where  it  suddenly  ran  away  before  the  charge  of  two  small  Con- 
federate regiments,  nearly  causing  my  personal  capture,  I  shared 
the  opinion  of  most  of  the  white  soldiers,  that  while  good  at 
marching,  and  just  then  an  interesting  popular  and  Government 
pet  and  plaything,  the  '  Colored  Troops'  were  not  good  to  tie  to 
in  battle.  After  the  above  practical  demonstration  of  their  value, 
and  sometime  before  the  movement  across  the  James,  I  had  per- 
emptorily declined  Butler's  proposal  to  take  command  of  this 
colored  Division,  and  when  somewhat  pressed,  had  by  way  of 
emphasis,  declared  my  preference  for  a  white  brigade  rather  than 
a  negro  division,  if  necessary. 

It  had  been  I  suppose,  at  the  instance  of  the  Corps  Commander 
General  Smith,  that  I  had  been  reassigned  to  command  the 
Second  Division  after  its  reinforcement  and  reorganization,  and 
my  rank  as  fixed  by  date  of  commission,  seemed  to  justify  my 
regarding  it  as  permanent,  since  a  command  at  least  equal,  must 
have  fallen  to  me  in  either  of  the  larger  armies.  But  Butler's 
little  scheme,  though  rebuffed  at  the  start,  had  been  readjusted  to 
meet  all  obstacles,  and  after  a  long  period  of  secret  nursing,  had 
now  reached  a  stage  when  it  must  necessarily  be  communicated 
both  to  General  Smith  and  myself.  After  my  refusal  of  the  Col- 
ored Division,  it  had  been  given  to  one  Hinks,  and  Weitzel  had 
been  ordered  to  the  18th  Corps  from  New  Orleans,  where  he 


DEPRIVED    OF    A    DIVISION    COMMAND  1U5 

had  been  hitherto  distinguished  for  political  and  civil,  rather  than 
military  achievements.  Butler  now  imparted  this  information, 
with  the  fact  that  Weitzel  had  reached  Washington  and  was  on 
his  way  thence  and  daily  expected  to  arrive,  when  the  only  com- 
mand suitable  for  his  superior  rank  would  be  my  Division,  and 
the  only  thing  left  for  me  would  be  my  old  Brigade. 

It  was  clearly  too  late  for  remonstrance  here,  but  on  the  other 
hand,  all  the  armies  were  now  freshly  reorganized  and  in  active 
motion.  It  would  require  considerable  time  to  get  myself  assigned 
to  the  Potomac,  or  any  other  army,  and  should  I  venture  to  leave 
the  Army  of  the  James  now  in  actual  contact  with  the  enemy,  I 
might  have  to  sulk  in  Washington  for  a  month  or  two  during  the 
most  active  part  of  the  campaign,  before  the  casualties  of  war 
should  make  room  for  my  reassignment.  Such  a  contingency  was 
not  to  be  entertained  a  moment,  as  the  astute  Butler  had  doubtless 
foreseen,  and  I  therefore  submitted  with  as  good  grace  as  I  could 
assume,  for  the  present. 

General  Weit/el  arrived  not  long  afterwards,  and  the  change 
was  effected  while  the  army  was  actually  engaged  in  front  of 
Petersburg,  as  will  presently  appear.  I  retired  from  the  Division 
which  either  directly  or  as  District  Commander  I  had  com- 
manded for  several  months,  and  had  handled  not  discreditably  on 
marches  and  in  action,  to  the  humbler  responsibilities  of  my  old 
Brigade.  It  is  useless  to  deny  that  this  injustice,  skillfully  and 
secretly  committed  by  a  wily  politician,  then  at  odds  with  almost 
every  military  man  of  repute  in  the  army,  and  soon  to  make  his 
military  antics  a  laughing-stock  to  the  country,  galled  consid- 
erably at  the  time.  I  think  I  may  fairly  remark  that  Butler,  at 
least,  could  not — and  did  not — make  any  pretext  of  deficiency  on 
my  part;  for  on  that  point  he  is  fully  committed  by  his  official 
reports,  over  and  over  again,  both  before  and  after  this  event,  some 
of  which  have  been  already  quoted.  Nevertheless,  through  these 
secret  machinations,  one  of  the  best  Divisions  in  the  service,  upon 
which  I  had  labored  assiduously  for  many  months  in  anticipation 
of  the  campaign  now  opening,  thus  fell  unearned  to  a  follower  of 
Butler's  fortunes,  of  my  own  rank  but  antedating  me  slightly, 
whose  best-known  recommendation  was  his  obedient  usefulness 


106  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

to  him  in  his  persecution — and,  as  many  have  charged — plunder, 
of  the  non-combatant  citizens  and  property-owners  of  New 
Orleans.  The  same  considerations  that  forbade  my  withdrawal 
from  the  Army  of  the  James  at  that  juncture,  rendered  it  equally 
or  even  more  inexpedient  to  retire  altogether  from  the  service;  and 
yet  it  was  due  more  to  the  friendly  sympathy  and  advice  of  my 
friends — especially  General  Smith,  and  Colonel  Stedman — than 
to  the  strength  of  my  own  philosophy,  that  I  was  able  to  refrain 
from  that  ill-advised  step.  Stedman,  in  fact,  suffered  as  much  as 
myself,  pro  tanto,  since  my  falling  back  to  the  Brigade,  sent  him 
back  to  his  old  regiment,  at  the  head  of  which  he  soon  after  glori- 
ously fell,  sword  in  hand,  in  the  act  of  leading  it  over  the  enemy's 
earthworks  at  Cold  Harbor.  He  lived  not  to  see  that  particular 
wrong  righted,  or  even  the  final  triumph  of  his  cause,  but  long 
enough  to  be  well-known  and  properly  valued  as  an  accomplished 
gentleman,  a  faithful  friend,  and  one  of  the  most  gallant  officers  in 
the  service  of  his  country. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  Butler  having  learned  of  the  successful 
crossing  of  the  James  by  the  cavalry  division  under  Kautz,  left 
his  colored  division,  about  5000  strong,  in  the  Bermuda  Hundred 
entrenchments,  and  marched  on  Petersburg  with  all  the  rest  of  the 
two  Corps,  then  numbering  in  the  ranks  present  for  duty,  about 
22,000  men.  No  enemy  was  at  first  encountered,  and  the  six  miles 
railroad  was  effectually  destroyed,  but  the  entire  army  was  brought 
to  a  stand  at  the  defensive  line  of  Swift  Creek,  two  miles  in  front 
of  Petersburg,  by  the  obstinate  and  skillful  defense  there  made  by 
a  few  Confederate  regiments  under  Beauregard.  At  this  place 
occurred  an  incident  too  obscure  in  magnitude  and  barren  of 
results,  to  find  any  place  in  history,  which,  nevertheless  cost  the 
lives  of  some  hundreds  of  brave  men  who  marched  gallantly  to 
death  in  obedience  to  orders,  the  reason  or  object  of  which  they 
could  scarcely  have  understood  themselves,  certainly  we  did  not. 
My  Division,  already  deployed  and  standing  in  line,  was  suddenly 
assailed  by  a  small  column  of  five  companies  of  South  Carolina 
infantry,  which  suddenly  charged  from  the  woods  but  was,  of 
course,  almost  to  a  man,  destroyed.  Not  immediately  perceiving 
any  plan  or  object  in  such  a  desperate  and  hopeless  movement,  I 


GENERAL    BUTLER'S    ERROR    AND    THE    RESULT  107 

rode  out  to  the  place,  where  these  men  fell,  which,  as  our  fire  had 
been  reserved  for  close  quarters,  was  scarcely  fifty  yards  from  our 
line,  but  could  find  no  officer  unwounded  or  in  condition  to  talk. 
The  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  command  having  been  killed  coming  up, 
the  ranking  officer  present  was  Capt.  Le  Roy  Hammond,  who  had 
himself  received  four  bullets  and  was  in  a  dying  condition;  all  the 
other  officers  not  killed  on  the  spot,  being  in  similar  or  worse 
condition.  Officers  and  men  alike,  the  former  mostly  sons  of 
wealthy  and  historic  South  Carolina  families,  carried  in  their  haver- 
sacks as  their  only  rations,  a  scanty  supply  of  raw  corn  just  as 
shelled  from  the  cob ! 

In  the  absence  of  more  plausible  explanation,  it  was  inferred 
that  the  destruction  of  this  small  column  had  been  risked  in  the 
desperate  hope  of  striking  my  Division  in  the  act  of  deployment, 
thus  creating  a  confusion  which  might  have  justified  Beauregard 
in  sallying  from  the  Swift  Creek  entrenchments  with  the  whole  of 
his  small  force.  But  the  division  having  advanced  in  line,  was 
already  deployed,  and  whether  or  not  the  apparently  desperate 
circumstances  of  the  Confederates  justified  the  attempt,  it  proved 
a  failure  that  resulted  in  the  entire  destruction  of  the  small 
assaulting  column  whose  superb  gallantry,  though  obscured  and 
forgotten  in  the  fame  of  larger  and  more  prominent  operations, 
well  deserved  a  better  fate. 

Instead  of  throwing  his  vastly  superior  force  instantly  on  the 
trifling  opposition  which  the  Confederate  general  was  here  able  to 
offer,  Butler  at  this  critical  moment  permitted  himself  to  be 
detained  by  a  desultory  combat,  mostly  confined  to  skirmish  lines, 
which  on  my  front  was  varied  by  a  sharp  fight  in  and  around  the 
Salem  Church,  the  whole  continuing  till  4  A.M.  on  the  10th,  when 
Weitzel  arrived  and  replaced  me  in  command  of  the  Second  Divi- 
sion. I  was  soon  after  directed  to  withdraw  my  Brigade  from 
the  line  of  battle  by  regiments,  as  relieved  by  Ames'  Division  of  the 
10th  Corps,  serve  cartridges,  form  in  marching  order  on  the  turn- 
pike and  await  orders.  These  soon  came,  being  to  march  up  the 
road  toward  Richmond  and  reinforceTerry's  Division  of  Gilmore's 
Corps,  then  covering  our  rear  above  Bermuda  Hundred  against  an 
attack  from  Richmond,  and  said  to  be  hard  pressed  by  troops  from 


108  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

that  place.  By  this  tune  the  sun  had  become  hot,  the  turnpike 
was  white  and  glowing,  the  men  had  been  in  ranks,  with  more  or 
less  fighting,  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  as  I  was  enjoined  to 
spare  no  time,  it  became  a  problem  how  to  get  the  command 
moved  over  the  eight  miles  that  separated  us  from  Terry,  in  the 
shortest  time.  I  could  think  of  no  better  plan  than  a  modification 
of  that  adopted  for  crossing  the  Humboldt  Desert  in  1849,  viz.,  to 
march  half  an  hour  and  halt  ten  minutes  till  the  ground  could  be 
covered.  Scores  of  exhausted  men  dropped  out  from  weakness  or 
sunstroke,  but  as  I  was  continually  urged  on  by  galloping  staff 
officers  from  Terry,  the  march  was  remorselessly  pushed,  only  to 
find  that  Terry  was  having  no  fight  at  all — not  even  as  much  as 
the  skirmishing  we  had  left — but  was  'expecting'  one. 

It  did  not  come  to  any  great  extent.  One  of  his  batteries  was 
overrun  and  momentarily  captured  by  the  charge  of  a  single  Con- 
federate regiment,  but  was  immediately  retaken  by  the  voluntary 
charge  of  one  of  our  regiments,  I  think  the  13th  Indiana.  The 
same  night  Butler's  troops  all  again  camped  within  the  Bermuda 
Hundred  lines.  On  the  12th  the  same  force  again  moved  out, 
taking  this  time  the  contrary  direction  toward  Richmond.  By  the 
evening  of  the  14th  an  advance  of  six  or  seven  miles,  mostly  through 
dense  woods,  had  been  effected,  every  inch  of  ground  having  been 
hotly  disputed  by  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  sometimes  only  dis- 
lodged by  vigorous  attacks  from  our  line  of  battle.  The  Army  of 
the  James  here  brought  up  in  front,  and  within  a  few  hundred  yards, 
of  a  formidable  line  of  earthworks,  extending  from  Drury's  Bluff  on 
James  River  a  distance  of  several  miles  into  the  country,  covering 
the  several  roads  and  railroads  leading  to  Richmond,  and  now 
defended  by  an  adequate  force  under  Beauregard,  constantly 
augmented  by  arrivals  from  Petersburg  and  more  southern  points, 
which  our  colored  garrison  at  Bermuda  Hundred  directly  on  the 
flank  and  within  two  miles  of  their  line  of  march  from  Petersburg, 
made  no  effort  to  prevent. 

The  Corps  commanders  advised  an  immediate  assault,  which 
was  not  approved  by  Butler,  who  had  not  yet  arrived — and  at  no 
time  did  arrive — at  the  front.  The  troops  having  been  placed  in 
position  on  the  general  line  of  a  small  swampy  rivulet  at  the  edge 


HECKMAN'S  BRIGADE  SURROUNDED  AND  CAPTURED  109 

of  the  slashed  timber  covering  the  glacis,  to  which  it  formed  a 
strong  abattis,  protected  themselves  with  a  small  breastwork  of 
logs  and  earth,  and  during  the  night,  by  General  Smith's  orders, 
stretched  telegraph  wire  from  stump  to  stump  through  the  tangled 
slashing  in  front  of  the  position.  For  the  easier  handling  of  artil- 
lery, a  corduroy  road  was  constructed  to  firm  ground  in  the  rear, 
and  with  the  exception  of  perpetual  picket  skirmishing  and  some 
artillery  fire  from  the  fort,  the  troops  lay  idle  till  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  16th,  when  the  enemy  made  a  sortie  with  his  entire 
infantry  force  of  three  Divisions. 

The  extreme  right  of  our  line  of  battle  was  held  by  Heckman's 
brigade  of  Wistar's — now  Weitzel's — Division,  having  my  brigade 
next  on  its  left,  and  on  its  right,  some  negro  cavalry  intended  to 
cover  its  exposed  flank  by  prolonging  the  general  line  across  the 
meadows  to  James  River,  a  distance  of  about  two  miles.  During 
this  night  Heckman's  pickets  had  lost  touch  with  mine,  and  what 
proved  of  still  more  importance,  with  those  of  the  two  regiments  of 
negro  cavalry  on  his  right.  I  was  occupied  with  all  my  staff  and 
orderlies  the  entire  night,  in  trying  to  get  the  first  gap  rectified, 
but  without  success.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
Division  General  and  not  mine,  to  see  to  the  continuity  of  his  line, 
but  though  the  defect  was  constantly  reported  to  him  through  the 
night,  it  received  no  other  attention  from  him,  so  far  as  I  ever 
heard.  In  the  next  place,  the  business  of  rectifying  this  interval 
was  difficult  and  exceedingly  dangerous.  The  ground  was  densely 
covered  with  a  'slashing'  of  heavy  white-oak  timber,  i.e.,  trees 
cut  down  two  years  before  and  left  lying  as  they  fell.  This, 
though  nearly  impassable  to  marching  troops,  was  filled  with 
the  enemy's  sharpshooters,  who  concealed  themselves  readily 
among  it,  in  rear  as  well  as  in  front  of  our  pickets,  and  made 
it  hot,  especially  for  the  officers  exploring  for  the  purpose  of 
rectifying  the  line. 

About  an  hour  before  daylight  on  the  16th,  the  low  swampy 
woods  being  filled  with  a  dense  fog,  Ransom's  Confederate  Divi- 
sion advanced  quickly  and  silently  from  the  fort  to  turn  Heck- 
man's right,  quickly  dispersed  the  negro  cavalry  which  offered  little 
or  no  resistance,  and  struck  and  enveloped  his  uncovered  flank. 


110  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

The  brigade  was  a  good  one  and  made  a  desperate  though  disor- 
derly resistance,  but  under  the  unfavorable  condition  of  the  circum- 
stances, receiving  neither  warning  nor  support  from  the  cavalry 
on  its  right,  soon  yielded  to  a  well-prepared  attack  that  reached 
its  flank  and  rear  almost  simultaneously,  and  was  entirely 
destroyed  as  a  cohesive  body,  its  general  with  all  his  staff  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  brigade  being  quickly  surrounded  and  captured, 
after  a  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  wounded.  The  swampy  thicket 
being  impracticable  for  horses,  my  staff  officers,  like  myself,  were 
on  foot,  and  before  I  could  get  any  accurate  knowledge  of  the  fight 
on  my  right,  a  long  and  heavy  line  of  battle  came  charging  down 
against  my  front.  Owing  to  the  darkness  and  fog,  the  distance  be- 
tween the  fighting  lines  was  reduced  to  a  few  yards  and  the  firing 
was  very  destructive  on  both  sides,  but  with  the  effective  aid  of  the 
wire  obstructions  in  our  front,  the  attack  was  at  length  success- 
fully repulsed.  In  consequence  of  the  defeat  of  Heckman,  it  now 
became  necessary  as  a  condition  of  holding  any  part  of  our  main 
line,  to  crochet  to  the  right  rear,  first  one,  and  then  two,  of  my 
regiments,  leaving  but  two  on  the  original  line. 

The  disposition  had  scarcely  been  made,  both  refused  regiments 
being  already  heavily  engaged  on  their  new  front,  when  a  second 
front  attack  was  vigorously  made,  but  again  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss  and  the  capture  by  us  of  several  hundred  prisoners,  who  find- 
ing it  impossible  to  get  away,  came  in  and  surrendered  and  were 
sent  to  the  rear.  The  firing  on  the  right  had  now  passed  entirely 
around  our  extemporized  right  flank,  and  soon  after,  the  recapture 
by  the  enemy  in  our  rear  of  nearly  all  our  hard-won  prisoners,  was 
reported  to  me  at  the  same  tune  that  Lieut.  Fairgrieve,  A.  D.  C., 
came  up  to  report  his  own  personal  capture  and  escape  from  the 
enemy,  whose  scattered  and  disordered  masses  already  filled  the 
woods  in  rear.  Being  apparently  cut  off  from  Headquarters,  I  had 
again  stripped  myself  of  staff  officers  to  obtain  information  of  the 
real  condition  of  affairs  on  the  right  and  rear,  when  a  third  dashing 
charge  came  upon  our  front,  the  enemy,  under  cover  of  smoke  and 
fog,  charging  in  close  upon  our  retiring  skirmishers,  and  getting  up 
within  a  few  feet  of  our  line  of  battle.  After  hard  fighting  and 
severe  loss  on  both  sides,  this  attempt,  like  the  others,  was  deci- 


RETIRING    UNDER    GREAT    DIFFICULTIES  111 

sively  repulsed,  and  was  not  repeated;  their  line  retiring  to  cover 
of  the  slashed  timber,  from  whence  though  a  heavy  fire  was 
maintained,  no  further  effort  was  made  to  close,  nor  any  attempt 
to  carry  off  their  wounded  from  their  distressing  position  between 
two  fires. 

It  was  about  this  tune  that  an  Aide  of  General  Smith  got  through 
with  an  order  for  me  to  retire  to  a  new  position  in  rear  and  to  the 
right  of  the  wood,  where  a  new  line  was  being  formed  by  him  in 
open  ground.  But  with  every  available  man  engaged,  my  right 
uncovered  and  crumbling  away,  and  the  enemy  between  myself 
and  the  designated  point  of  retreat,  this  was  not  an  easy  thing  to 
accomplish  with  success.  The  only  way  was  to  retire  regiment 
by  regiment,  replacing  each  by  a  skirmish  line,  and  trusting  to 
events  to  get  finally  off  the  line  without  sacrificing  the  last.  This 
was  the  method  adopted,  and  as  in  such  a  dense,  swampy  thicket, 
it  was  impossible  to  retain  control  of  anything  when  once  out  of 
sight,  each  Colonel  was  instructed  to  move  off  promptly  .as  the 
order  reached  him,  get  quickly  into  column  in  condition  to  face  to 
any  front  and  fight  his  independent  way  to  the  rear,  reporting 
directly  to  the  Corps  commander  with  whom  only  I  was  in  any 
communication  at  all;  having  seen  or  heard  nothing  of  Weitzel 
since  the  action  commenced.  Two  of  my  four  regiments  had 
thus  moved  off,  their  places  being  so  inadequately  occupied  by 
a  skirmish  line  as  to  invite  another  attack  in  front,  when  a  second 
order  got  through,  directing  me  to  disregard  the  first,  and  hold 
on,  as  Brooks  of  the  10th  Corps,  was  about  making  an  effort  to 
reoccupy  the  place  on  my  left,  from  which  his  Division  had  been 
driven. 

But  in  addition  to  former  difficulties,  the  enemy  about  this  time 
had  turned  on  us  a  heavy  battery  of  twenty-pound  Parrotts, 
captured  from  Brooks  on  the  turnpike  on  our  left,  which  mathemati- 
cally enfiladed  my  line  of  battle,  and  would  have  been  ruinously 
destructive  if  the  guns  had  been  better  served.  Whatever  Brooks 
might  ultimately  accomplish,  it  was  nevertheless  plain  that  these 
two  regiments  of  mine  were  at  present  the  only  ones  remaining  on 
any  part  of  the  line,  with  the  enemy  strong  in  front,  both  flanks 
entirely  exposed,  and  even  the  woods  in  rear  occupied  more  or  less 


112  AT    WEST    POINT  VA.,   AND  BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

by  a  hostile  force  of  unknown  strength  and  position.  I  could  not 
get  back  my  two  despatched  regiments  and  it  was  no  longer  possi- 
ble to  recover  the  position  vacated  under  the  first  order,  and  the 
second  was  therefore  now  impossible  to  execute.  It  was  conse- 
quently determined  to  continue  the  evacuation  first  ordered,  and 
the  aide  was  sent  back  to  announce  the  fact.  The  third  regiment 
having  been  extricated  and  on  its  way  to  the  rear,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  charge  and  retake  the  captured  battery,  not  so  much 
to  recover  the  guns,  which  probably  could  not  be  carried  off, 
as  to  check  the  enemy  and  gain  time  and  confidence  for  getting 
away  with  the  last  regiment.  This  was  spendidly  executed  by 
Stedmen  with  the  llth  Connecticut,  while  the  skirmish  line  was 
being  drawn  in  from  the  right.  The  guns  were  retaken,  and  several 
of  them  spiked  with  horseshoe  nails  found  in  the  limber-boxes,  after 
which,  as  there  was  no  means  of  moving  them,  they  were  aban- 
doned. General  Smith  was  found  about  a  mile  to  the  right  rear, 
with  the  new  line  skillfully  formed  in  open  ground  and  a  strong 
position. 

Thus  ended  for  the  time,  one  of  the  hardest  fought  combats  of  the 
war,  in  which  two  of  Beauregard's  three  Divisions  were  thrown  suc- 
cessively on  Weitzel's  single  Division  with  the  design  of  crushing 
our  right,  nearly  all  the  fighting  occurring  after  the  destruction  of 
Heckman's  Brigade  had  reduced  the  Division  to  one  Brigade. 
That  brigade  had  been  fought  from  first  to  last  without  any  com- 
munication whatever  with  Weitzel,  whose  personal  position  and 
occupation  during  the  action  remain  unknown  to  me  even  at  the 
present  day,  and  yet  the  principal  writers  on  the  war,  ser- 
vilely following  Humphreys— who  was  not  present — have  scarcely 
troubled  themselves  by  even  mentioning  my  name;  probably 
because  I  was  not  a  West  Point  officer!  I  have  always  flattered 
myself,  and  still  believe,  that  if  Weitzel  had  arrived  to  take  my 
Division  a  month  later  than  he  did,  Heckman's  Brigade — which  I 
knew  well — would  not  have  been  surprised.  It  would  have  been 
effectually  covered  by  a  continuous  picket  line  and  by  the  time 
that  line  yielded,  would  have  been  quite  ready  to  stand  to  its 
work.  Long  before  the  attack  reached  the  left  brigade  there 
would  have  been  ample  time  for  any  prompt  and  capable  Division 


AN    ADVANCE    TO    RECOVER    THE    WOUNDED  113 

General  to  detach  from  it  to  Heckman's  flank  and  rear,  and  check 
or  beat  Ransom,  only  a  small  portion  of  whose  troops  at  first 
enveloped  Heckman's  right  and  reached  his  rear.  Had  the  right 
brigade  maintained  its  line  for  even  twenty  minutes,  which  under 
such  different  circumstances  should  have  presented  no  difficulty, 
the  few  Confederate  regiments  which  had  passed  round  its 
flank  could  have  been  easily  checked  by  an  alert  Division  Com- 
mander with  another  unengaged  brigade  to  draw  from;  when 
an  advance  by  Heckman  en  echelon  from  his  right  would  have 
been  perfectly  safe,  and  must  have  cut  Ransom's  disordered 
Division  in  two  and  driven  it  back  on  its  entrenchments  with 
heavy  loss  of  prisoners. 

Though  this  view  is  my  own,  it  has  been  concurred  in  by  much 
more  experienced  judges,  and  be  it  as  it  may,  the  incontestable 
fact  remains  that  the  brigade  scarcely  mentioned  by  Humphreys 
and  those  who  have  slavishly  followed  him,  was  the  last  of  both 
Corps  to  cling  to  the  line  of  battle,  from  which  it  had  repulsed 
three  attacks,  and  whence  it  at  last  retired  at  leisure,  in  order,  and 
under  obedience  to  instructions. 

General  Smith  had  formed  the  new  line  with  his  accustomed 
skill,  in  a  strong  position  with  woods  in  rear  and  open  ground  in 
front,  and  artillery  massed  on  higher  ground  in  rear  of  his  right. 
The  losses  of  both  sides  having  been  heavy,  no  further  hostile 
movement  by  either  occurred  till  afternoon,  when  orders  came 
from  Butler,  who  remained  at  the  Half-Way  House,  three  miles  in 
the  rear,  to  send  the  best-conditioned  brigade  straight  to  the  front 
to  see  what  could  be  done  toward  bringing  off  the  wounded,  but 
with  strict  injunctions  against  bringing  on  another  general  action. 
This  demonstration  fell  to  my  lot,  and  the  brigade  at  once  moved 
forward  in  order  of  battle,  Smith's  guns  shelling  the  opposite  woods 
over  our  heads.  As  our  strong  skirmish  line  entered  the  woods,  it 
soon  came  into  collision  with  the  enemy,  pushing  him  steadily 
back  for  near  a  mile,  when  his  skirmishers,  being  strengthened, 
made  a  firm  stand.  Ours  being  in  turn  reinforced,  drove  them 
again,  till  the  two  lines  both  alternately  and  repeatedly  reinforced, 
began  to  assume  the  dimensions  and  appearance  of  lines  of  battle. 
At  length  a  considerable  bunch  of  houses,  barns,  out-houses,  and 


114  AT    WEST    POINT,    VA.,    AND    BERMUDA    HUNDRED 

negro  cabins,  constituting  an  old-fashioned  Virginia  farm  and 
affording  a  good  point  of  defense,  was  occupied  and  obstinately 
held  by  the  enemy,  who  even  brought  up  guns  to  cover  it.  I  also 
sent  back  for  a  couple  of  guns  to  open  the  way  for  assault,  and  the 
affair  was  in  a  fair  way  to  swell  to  the  dimensions  of  battle,  when  I 
was  recalled  and  found  that  under  cover  of  the  forward  movement, 
a  general  retreat  had  already  commenced,  to  which  my  battle- 
worn  brigade  was  assigned  as  rear-guard.  There  was  no  pursuit  of 
any  consequence,  the  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  being 
quite  equal  to  ours,  and  soon  after  dark  the  whole  Army  of  the 
James  was  again  assembled  within  the  entrenchments  of  Bermuda 
Hundred,  where  as  General  Grant  contemptuously  stigmatized 
it,  Butler  proceeded  to  get  himself  and  the  remainder  of  his  30,000 
men  securely  and  permanently  'bottled  up.'8 

8  General  Wm.  F.  Smith,  in  his  book  entitled  "From  Chatanooga  to  Petersburg 
under  Grant  and  Butler,"  1893,  has  printed  in  Appendix  No.  8,  a  letter  from  me 
dated  January  23rd,  1893,  which  gives  a  more  specific  statement  of  some  features 
of  the  action  of  Drury's  Bluff 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RETURN  TO  CIVIL  LIFE  AND  BUSINESS 

After  the  considerable  success  at  first  attained  by  the  Confed- 
erates in  the  severe  and  bloody  action  at  Drury's  Bluff,  their 
failure  to  follow  it  up  with  real  vigor  during  the  several  hours  of 
almost  entire  suspension  of  arms  that  intervened  between  our 
retirement  from  the  original  line  and  the  advance  of  my  brigade  in 
the  afternoon,  seemed  not  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  their 
mere  losses  in  action,  heavy  as  those  undoubtedly  were.  It  was 
known  to  us,  both  from  prisoners  and  the  Richmond  papers,  that 
President  Davis  was  personally  present  at  the  affair,  a  fact  scarcely 
tending  to  abate  the  well-known  ardor  and  energy  of  the  Confed- 
erate general,  and  the  circumstances  long  remained  unexplained. 
But  soon  after  the  termination  of  the  war,  my  old  California 
friend,  Major  William  Addison,  of  the  Confederate  Army,  fur- 
nished an  intelligible  and  rather  startling  elucidation,  since  mainly 
confirmed  by  Confederate  official  reports. 

Though  belonging  to  the  staff  of  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,  he  was  that 
day,  by  special  detail,  serving  on  the  staff  of  Confederate  General 
Whiting.  His  statement  was  that  early  in  the  morning,  im- 
mediately after  their  first  success,  fully  half  of  Beauregard's 
troops  were  despatched  under  General  W.  to  occupy  a  position  in 
the  woods  on  our  left  and  rear,  from  which  at  the  proper  time,  to 
cut  off  our  retreat  to  Bermuda  Hundred.  When  the  attack  was 
made  by  my  brigade  in  the  afternoon,  the  fighting  was  for  a  time 
severe,  and  the  Confederate  general  probably  taking  the  motive 
as  more  serious  than  intended,  no  doubt  deemed  his  opportunity 
arrived,  and  sent  orders  to  W.  to  launch  his  entire  force  upon  our 
line  of  retreat  and  attack  in  rear  while  he  should  press  us  in  front. 
But  when  this  momentous  order  reached  its  destination,  W., 
though  brave,  capable  and  effective  under  ordinary  circumstances, 

115 


116  THE   RETURN  TO   CIVIL   LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

was  not  in  physical  condition  to  execute  any  movement;  and  his 
staff,  after  vainly  trying  to  effect  even  a  temporary  restoration, 
were  unwilling  themselves  to  assume  the  direction  of  such  an 
important  operation.  Thus  at  this  critical  juncture  a  long  delay 
ensued,  during  which  Butler,  blissfully  ignorant  of  the  well-set 
trap  yawning  for  his  reception,  retired  unopposed  to  his  entrench- 
ments. Even  Beauregard's  own  pressure  on  our  front — now 
become  the  rear — was  pushed  with  inexplicable  moderation,  the 
reason  for  which,  thus  explained,  is  now  simple  enough.  He  was 
momentarily  expecting  to  hear  the  sounds  of  W.'s  attack  from  the 
direction  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  which  should  give  him  the  long- 
desired  signal  to  rush  in  for  all  he  was  worth  and  reap  the  results 
of  his  skillfully  devised  plans. 

General  W.  was,  when  in  condition  for  work,  a  brave  experi- 
enced and  able  officer  of  the  old  army,  and  severe  as  was  the  trial 
to  Beauregard's  philosophy,  it  is  probable  it  would  have  been  over- 
looked, but  W.  soon  after  fell  in  action  at  his  unsuccessful  defense 
of  Fort  Fisher,  and  the  circumstance  has  received  little  public 
comment. 

Personally,  I  had  entered  on  this  campaign  against  the  remon- 
strances of  my  friends  and  the  medical  officers,  and  was  in  about 
as  bad  a  state  of  health  as  was  consistent  with  active  work  at  all. 
Furthermore,  as  luck  would  have  it,  I  had  been  subjected  from  the 
very  first  to  almost  constant  exposure  at  all  hours,  with  little 
opportunity  for  the  indispensable  necessities  of  food  and  rest, 
and  had  only  been  kept  in  the  saddle  by  stimulating  drugs  of 
whose  ultimate  consequences,  my  brigade  surgeon,  Dr.  Otis,  had 
not  left  me  ignorant.  During  the  movement  against  Petersburg, 
I  had  my  clothes  off  one  night  only,  and  in  that  against  Drury's 
Bluff,  not  at  all.  The  penalty  justly  to  be  expected,  now  appeared. 
The  excitement  of  active  field  work  was  no  sooner  suspended, 
than  the  same  alarming  symptoms  of  fever  and  diarrhea  which  had 
kept  our  regimental  and  post  hospitals  overflowing  on  the  Penin- 
sula, seized  upon  me  with  overwhelming  and  ominous  severity. 
In  field  hospital,  notwithstanding  such  kind  attentions  as  my  staff 
and  other  friends  were  able  to  render,  the  condition  grew  steadily 
worse  and  I  was  informed  that,  whatever  the  issue,  I  must  not 


RECUPERATING   IN   CLAYMONT,    DELAWARE  117 

think  of  going  into  the  field  again  for  at  least  some  months.  All 
the  doctors  either  instigated  or  backed  Butler,  who  desired  me  to 
accept  a  long  leave  of  absence,  and  even  offered  to,  and  did,  pur- 
chase some  of  my  horses.  Thus  at  last,  almost  without  knowl- 
edge or  volition  of  my  own,  I  found  myself,  in  company  with  a 
steamer-load  of  wounded  and  sick  of  all  ranks,  on  the  way  to 
General  Hospital  at  Fortress  Monroe,  from  which  place  I  was  in 
turn  forwarded  by  the  Medical  Director  to  one  of  the  great  Gen- 
eral Hospitals  in  Philadelphia. 

But  arrived  in  that  city,  whence  at  that  season  all  my  family 
and  many  of  my  intimate  friends  were  absent,  I  was  saved  from 
the  military  hospitals,  then  in  an  overflowing  condition,  by  the 
kindness  of  Thomas  Kimber,an  old  Haverford  College  mate,  whom 
I  had  scarcely  seen  since  leaving  there.  Kimber  was  at  this  time 
president  of  several  railroads,  in  the  full  tide  of  commercial  suc- 
cess and  might  have  reached  almost  any  eminence  in  that  line; 
but  some  years  later  deliberately  abandoned  all  selfish  personal 
interests  in  obedience  to  religious  conviction,  and  became  an  able 
and  distinguished  preacher  and  writer  in  the  Society  of  Friends. 
He  was  at  this  time  residing  on  a  fine  estate  that  he  had  acquired  in 
Delaware,  and  had  recently  added  to  his  possessions  a  small  prop- 
erty in  the  same  vicinity,  situated  on  the  river  of  the  same  name, 
and  containing  the  small  but  ancient  manor-house  of  the  alienated, 
much-divided,  and  long  forgotten  manor  of  Stockdale,  reserved 
from  sale  for  their  own  use  by  Penn  and  Carpenter,  at  the  earliest 
settlement  of  the  country.  Into  this  house  I  was  carried  on  a 
stretcher,  and  on  the  premises  first  known  under  such  discouraging 
circumstances,  I  am  now  writing,  having  since  lived  there,  more 
or  less,  during  every  summer  season  when  not  absent  from  the 
country.  At  a  later  period  when  I  had  learned  from  Kimber  the 
history  of  the  house,  whose  original  builder,  Carpenter,  was  a 
lineal  ancestor  of  my  mother,  and  saw  the  curious  old  Indian 
grants,  signed  with  their  'totems,'  or  tribal  or  family  symbols, 
I  purchased  the  property,  and  have  since  from  time  to  time 
enlarged  and  improved  it,  scrupulously  preserving  the  integrity  of 
the  old  manor-house,  now  surrounded  by  and  embedded  among 
modern  additions. 


118  THE   BETUBN   TO   CIVIL  LIFE   AND   BUSINESS 

At  this  place,  not  far  from  the  station  known  as  Claymont,  19 
miles  from  the  city,  I  lay  ill  several  months,  during  which  I  also 
suffered  a  return  of  pain  and  trouble  from  the  elbow  wound 
received  nearly  three  years  previously,  at  Ball's  Bluff.  This  was 
for  several  years  the  occasion  of  such  excessive  and  almost  con- 
tinuous pain,  that  I  should  certainly  have  dispensed  with  the 
remains  of  the  arm,  but  for  the  opinion  of  my  father  and  his  pro- 
fessional friends,  Doctors  J.  Rhea  Barton  and  George  W.  Norris, 
who  agreed  with  him  that  the  pain  would  in  time  be  alleviated  by 
natural  process,  as  the  lacerated  nerves  readjusted  themselves; 
and  that  even  in  case  of  amputation,  the  stump  would  remain 
nearly  or  quite  as  sensitive.  These  views  have  proved  to  a  certain 
extent  just — since  after  several  years  of  almost  constant  suffering, 
only  rendered  tolerable  by  the  frequent  use  of  hypodermic  injec- 
tions, the  pain  gradually  became  more  and  more  intermittent,  and 
for  many  years  past  has  been  comparatively  moderate,  with  long 
intervals  of  immunity. 

But  in  1864,  the  prospect  of  health  and  prolonged  life  seemed 
remote,  and,  at  all  events,  further  exposure  in  the  field  was  for  the 
present  out  of  the  question,  and  near  the  close  of  that  year  I 
resigned  my  commission,  and  cast  about  for  the  means  of  livelihood 
at  home.  Since  my  last  essay  in  civil  life,  my  domestic  responsi- 
bilities had  of  course  been  increased,  while  my  means  had  been 
materially  reduced  by  the  legislative  experiments  of  the  Govern- 
ment itself.  When  I  first  embraced  the  military  service  I  had 
invested  what  assets  could  be  most  quickly  realized,  in  city  mort- 
gages, which,  if  moderate  in  returns,  required  little  personal  atten- 
tion and  seemed  reasonably  free  from  many  of  the  ordinary  vicissi- 
tudes of  property.  But  under  the  inflation  that  followed  the 
celebrated  'Legal  Tender  Act,'  metallic  and  convertible  currency 
was  driven  entirely  from  circulation,  and  the  Government's 
paper  money  fell  to  a  point  marked  by  a  gold  premium  at  one 
time  reaching  nearly  300  per  cent.  A  large  majority  of  solvent 
debtors  of  course  hastened  to  pay  off  their  liabilities  in  the  dis- 
credited medium,  and  my  mortgages  had  thus,  during  my  absence, 
become  converted  into  paper  currency  worth  about  a  third  of  the 
value  originally  invested  hi  them.  It  was  the  Government  itself, 


ELECTED   PRESIDENT  OP  A   CANAL   COMPANY  119 

that  I  had  worked  and  suffered  for,  that  by  ignorant  and  incom- 
petent statesmanship  rather  than  with  any  predatory  intention, 
had  done  this  wrong  to  me  and  others. 

In  1865,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to  some  who  may  read  this, 
canals  still  prominently  contested  with  railroads  the  function  of 
supplying  public  transportation,  and  looking  about  for  occupation, 
and  rejecting  my  old  profession  of  the  law  as  hardly  worth  recom- 
mencing for  a  third  tune,  I  observed  that  the  old  Union  Canal 
Company  which  had  claimed  so  much  attention  in  its  day,  and  in 
which  most  fortunes  of  old  date  even  then  continued  to  be  inter- 
ested, seemed  even  more  discredited  than  was  fairly  consistent 
with  its  real  capacity  and  resources.  Its  declining  business,  and 
the  low  price  of  its  securities,  seemed  to  my  superficial  view  rather 
due  to  reparable  causes,  than  to  the  slow  but  resistless  progress  in 
methods  which  we  can  now  see  had  even  then  commenced  in  favor 
of  railroads.  The  line  of  the  work,  connecting  the  fine  basins  of 
the  Susquehanna  and  the  Schuylkill,  was  unquestionably  good,  and 
its  territory  and  connections,  valuable,  but  it  had  never  been  able 
to  surmount  certain  radical  errors  of  design  and  construction. 

Its  summit  level  which  supplied  water  to  the  others  in  both  direc- 
tions, had  been  placed  at  so  high  an  elevation  that  it  commanded 
little  natural  drainage,  and  that  little  had  been  entirely  neglected, 
its  original  designers  preferring  to  pump  the  required  water  to  a 
vertical  height  of  ninety-five  feet,  from  the  Swatara  River.  Even 
the  water  thus  expensively  obtained  was  badly  utilized,  since  the 
level,  passing  through  a  cavernous  limestone  country,  was  very 
leaky,  and  wasted  as  much  water  as  it  conveyed  for  useful 
purposes. 

After  looking  carefully  over  the  ground,  I  felt  satisfied  these 
faults  were  still  remediable,  and  in  order  to  acquire  control  and 
opportunity,  I  at  length  effected  an  arrangement  with  four  other 
persons,  to  purchase  together  a  large  amount  of  the  Canal  Com- 
pany's securities,  calculating  with  that  interest  as  a  basis,  to 
be  able  to  influence  a  practical  majority.  The  plan  succeeded, 
and  in  due  time  I  was  elected  President  of  the  Company  with 
a  Board  of  Directors  of  my  own  selection,  and  went  to  work  as 
earnestly  as  my  crippled  condition  and  unpaired  health  permitted. 


120  THE   RETURN   TO   CIVIL   LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

Two  distinct  problems  were  presented;  first,  to  utilize  all  water- 
supply  that  could  be  got  by  gravity  from  higher  territory;  and 
second,  by  stopping  the  leakage,  to  make  the  entire  quantity 
available.  Lying  north  of  Lebanon  is  a  limited  district  of  country 
locally  known  as  the  'Gravel  Ridge,'  of  uneven  contour,  but 
mostly  of  greater  altitude  than  the  limestone  district  on  which  the 
town  is  situated.  After  a  minute  preliminary  examination  of 
this  tract — in  which  I  received  the  able  and  gratuitous  assistance 
of  Thomas  T.  Wierman  and  James  F.  Smith,  chief  engineers, 
respectively,  of  the  Canal  Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R. 
Company,  and  of  the  old  Schuylkill  Navigation  Company — lines 
and  levels  were  run  upon  it,  and  three  reservoirs  located  to  receive, 
store  and  distribute  the  natural  precipitation,  about  three  miles 
of  conduit  being  required  to  connect  them  with  each  other  and  the 
summit  level.  But  the  estimates  of  cost  exceeded  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  in  addition  to  which,  funds  were  urgently  required 
to  repair  and  restore  the  general  canal-line,  eighty-two  miles  long, 
and  embracing,  if  I  recollect  right,  seventy-two  lift-locks,  besides 
other  expensive  structures. 

The  Company  had  long  been  in  pecuniary  default;  was  without 
money,  credit  or  security,  and  unable  to  borrow  a  dollar,  without 
individual  endorsement.  But  it  still  possessed  the  right  of  way 
formerly  occupied  by  a  branch  canal  twenty-two  miles  long,  extend- 
ing through  the  upper  Swatara  Valley  from  the  western  end  of  the 
summit  level  to  Pinegrove,  from  which  the  canal  works  had  been 
obliterated  by  the  great  freshet  of  1862.  The  Reading  R.R.  Com- 
pany had  long  entertained  the  idea  of  connecting  their  Lebanon 
Valley  Road  with  the  Schuylkill  County  part  of  their  system  by  a 
short  road  passing  through  the  same  gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
had  repeatedly  introduced  into  the  Legislature,  bills  for  that  pur- 
pose which  had  thus  far  been  foiled  or  defeated  by  amendments 
prohibiting  the  proposed  road  from  approaching  the  canal  branch 
within  some  small  specified  distance.  That  apparently  reasonable 
and  innocent  proviso,  and  the  effect  of  moving  back  the  line  of  the 
proposed  road  to  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  at  the  narrow  passage 
known  as  the  Swatara  Gap,  and  therefore  rendered  it  impracti- 
cable. In  the  earnest  search  for  ways  and  means,  it  now  occurred 


INTERVIEW   WITH   PRESIDENT   OF   PENNSYLVANIA   RAILROAD        121 

to  me  that  a  sale  of  this  old  canal  branch  as  a  right  of  way,  might 
be  effected  either  to  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  which  might 
thus  connect  its  main  line  through  a  back  door,  as  it  were,  with  the 
anthracite  district  of  Schuylkill  County,  or  to  the  Reading  Com- 
pany, for  making  the  connection  they  had  formerly  desired  and 
closing  a  door  of  competition  to  its  rivals. 

With  this  view,  I  introduced  myself  to  Mr.  J.  Edgar  Thomson, 
President  of  the  Pennsylvania,  and  submitted  a  proposal,  but 
without  success — he  stating  that  while  it  seemed  to  offer  them  an 
appreciable  advantage,  he  would  prefer  not  to  violate  a  certain 
tacit  understanding  existing  between  the  two  great  roads,  that 
neither  should  wantonly  invade  the  other's  proper  territory. 
But  with  Mr.  Charles  E.  Smith,  President  of  the  Reading,  I  had 
better  success,  and  after  tedious  negotiation,  effected  with  him  a 
verbal  sale  to  his  Company  for  $250,000,  one-fifth  in  cash,  the 
remainder  in  four  equal  semi-annual  payments  with  interest,  and 
the  stipulation  that  a  traffic  connection  between  rail  and  canal  at 
Jonestown  should  be  made  by  their  construction  of  the  necessary 
schutes  and  appurtenances,  and  the  perpetual  maintenance  of 
'  through'  rates  on  all  coal  transferred  at  that  point.  But  when 
this  had  been  reduced  to  writing,  I  was  obliged  to  omit,  first  the 
stipulation  for  interest  on  deferred  payments,  and  then  the  agree- 
ment for  interchange  of  traffic  at  Jonestown.  When  constrained 
by  my  increasing  necessities  to  yield  those  points,  Mr.  St.  George 
T.  Campbell,  counsel  for  the  Reading  Company,  was  still  fertile  in 
objections  to  the  form  of  the  paper,  and  conceiving  myself  treated 
by  him  on  one  occasion  with  personal  insolence,  I  abruptly  left  his 
office  and  declined  further  interviews  with  him.  At  length 
through  the  interposition  of  Mr.  Smith's  assistant,  John  Tucker — 
whom  I  had  formerly  known  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Mr. 
F.  B.  Gowen,  the  Reading  Company's  counsel  at  Pottsville,  was 
sent  for,  and  with  him  I  had  no  difficulty  in  reaching  a  prompt 
agreement  respecting  the  form  of  the  contract.  Never- 
theless, weeks  still  passed  by  without  Mr.  Smith  being  able  to 
bring  himself  to  the  point  of  signing  the  paper,  which  he  him- 
self had  agreed  to,  his  Directors  authorized,  and  his  own  counsel 
approved. 


122  THE   RETURN   TO   CIVIL  LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

Meanwhile,  on  faith  of  the  expected  funds,  the  constructions  on 
the  canal  had  been  commenced  and  were  in  full  progress,  and  my 
own  personal  means  and  credit  were  by  this  time  strained  to  the 
utmost  to  provide  the  monthly  payments  required.  As  if  the 
pressure  was  not  already  enough,  two  of  the  five  co-purchasers  of 
the  canal  securities  became  so  alarmed,  that  to  prevent  their  hold- 
ings from  going  in  a  body  on  the  market,  I  was  obliged  to  take  or 
become  responsible  for  them.  I  must  have  broken  down  entirely 
under  these  unexpected  loads,  but  for  an  unusually  easy  money 
market,  and  a  partial  revival  of  confidence  in  Union  Canal  securi- 
ties which  enabled  them  to  be  borrowed  upon,  and  even  slowly  and 
cautiously  marketed.  At  length,  when  financial  matters  with  me 
and  the  Company  were  approaching  a  crisis,  occurred  a  certain 
famous  falling-out  between  the  two  great  corporations,  respecting 
the  movement  upon  the  Pennsylvania  lines  of  the  Reading's 
Catawissa  cars,  several  miles  of  which  were  refused  transportation, 
and  accumulated  near  Milton.  Feeling  by  this  time  convinced 
that  Smith  was  rather  amusing  himself  with  me  to  keep  away  other 
purchasers,  than  from  any  earnest  desire  to  complete  the  transac- 
tion, I  felt  quite  justified  in  devising  some  means  of  expediting  his 
movements,  and  as  the  measure  adopted  not  only  relieved  an  em- 
barrassment that  was  becoming  intolerable,  but  indirectly  brought 
about  other  results  of  considerable  personal  importance,  they  may 
be  worth  relating. 

As  soon  as  the  railroad  feud  became  pronounced  and  public,  I 
called  again  on  Mr.  Thomson,  and  referring  to  that  subject, 
inquired  if,  under  the  changed  conditions,  he  now  felt  inclined  to 
purchase.  On  receiving  a  negative  reply,  I  informed  him  fully  of 
the  halting  condition  of  my  negotiation  with  Smith,  and  asked  if 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  me,  he  would  be  willing  to  address  me  a 
note  of  two  lines  which  should  in  no  manner  commit  himself. 
"What  is  the  note?"  "Sir:  If  you  are  not  yet  positively  com- 
mitted respecting  the  sale  of  the  Union  Canal  branch  line,  I  would 
like  to  see  you  at  your  earliest  convenience."  With  a  faint  and 
almost  imperceptible  smile,  he  at  once  acceded  and  handed  me  the 
note  without  another  word,  the  commodity  of  speech  being  one 
which  he  never  wasted.  The  same  day  I  took  pains  to  obtain  a 


SELLING   THE   CANAL  PROPERTY  123 

casual  street  meeting  with  one  of  the  Reading  directors  who  was 
personally  intimate  with  Smith,  and  after  some  preliminary  con- 
versation, showed  him  the  note  in  confidence,  and  asked  if,  under 
the  circumstances,  he  considered  me  so  far  bound  to  Smith  as  to 
be  under  obligation  to  decline  other  overtures?  I  pointed  out 
that  such  a  note  could  not  be  absolutely  neglected,  and  considering 
Smith's  delay  and  indifference  about  signing,  I  was  unable  to  say 
that  I  was  positively  committed  with  him,  and  would  by  no  means 
be  justified  in  declining  to  entertain  other  negotiations,  &c.,  &c. 
But  he  was  inclined  to  differ  with  me,  and  finally  exacted  a  promise 
that  I  would  at  least  see  Mr.  Smith  and  give  him  an  opportunity 
to  close,  before  responding  to  Thomson's  note — a  promise  given 
with  a  sufficient  amount  of  coyness,  but  considerable  real  alacrity. 
After  allowing  a  few  hours  for  this  confidential  interview  to  find 
its  way  to  Mr.  Smith,  I  called  to  see  him  and  immediately  per- 
ceived a  surprising  change  of  tone  and  manner.  In  place  of  treat- 
ing me  like  a  scheming  adventurer  with  a  nostrum  to  sell,  he  even 
inquired  tenderly  after  my  precious  health,  and  went  to  the  length 
of  asking  me  to  take  a  seat. 

Neither  Thomson's  letter — or  even  his  name — was  once  men- 
tioned, and  finding  my  interlocutor  now  ready  and  anxious  to  close, 
I  ventured  on  receding  in  exact  proportion  as  he  advanced,  and  did 
not  quit  him  till  both  the  interest  payments  and  the  traffic  contract 
were  restored  to  their  original  place  in  the  transaction,  which  was 
re-drawn  and  signed  the  same  day,  and  in  due  time  fully  executed. 
I  hope  and  believe  that  few  persons  despise  duplicity  in  general 
more  than  myself.  It  is  usually  the  resource  of  a  rogue  or  a 
coward,  and  those  who  habitually  resort  to  it  expose  themselves 
to  the  suspicion  of  being  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  lying  to  pro- 
mote it.  In  this  case  there  was  no  lying,  but  it  can  not  be  denied 
there  was  a  certain  silent  deception,  only  justifiable  as  a  counter 
against  the  same  weapon,  which  I  was  not  the  first  to  use,  and 
which  was  likely  to  result  in  serious  disaster  to  many  others  beside 
myself.  I  have  always  felt  somewhat  inclined  to  be  ashamed  of  it, 
and  have  only  related  it  to  introduce  and  explain  my  subsequent 
intimate  relations  with  Mr.  Thomson. 


124  THE   RETURN  TO   CIVIL  LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

The  Union  Canal  storage  reservoirs  and  conduits  were  com- 
pleted and  paid  for,  and  proved  as  far  as  they  went,  an  effectual  and 
indispensable  source  of  supply.  The  leaks  in  the  summit  level 
were  discovered  by  strewing  bran  over  the  surface  of  the  water 
admitted  to  quarter  depth,  and  then  effectually  stopped  with  clay 
puddled  by  enclosing  mules  upon  it  and  keeping  them  in  lively 
motion.  By  means  of  regular  and  reliable  movement,  with  low 
rates,  a  much  larger  traffic  was  obtained  on  the  canal  than  it  had 
ever  before  possessed,  and  the  Lebanon  Valley  branch  of  the 
Reading  R.  R.  felt  the  new  competition  so  keenly  that  when  I  gave 
up  the  management  of  the  property  not  long  afterwards,  a  nego- 
tiation was  already  pending  with  them  for  its  purchase,  which  was 
soon  after  completed  and  the  canal  abandoned  as  a  line  of  trans- 
portation. Its  securities  had  in  the  meantime  considerably  risen 
in  value,  and  as  I  had  purchased  for  control  rather  than  profit,  I 
succeeded  in  unloading  those  which  I  had  voluntarily  bought  as 
well  as  those  forced  upon  me;  the  entire  transaction,  large  and 
onerous  as  it  had  been,  netting  a  slight  profit  over  the  principal 
and  interest  involved,  on  a  final  settlement. 

It  was  either  just  before  or  after  I  entered  on  that  undertaking 
that  I  received  a  letter  from  Gen.  Butler,  then,  I  think,  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Massachusetts,  unfolding  the  scheme  designed 
for  the  establishment  of  Soldiers'  Homes,  stating  that  he  was  or 
would  be  President  of  the  Board  of  Governors;  that  the  first  Home 
would  be  immediately  established  somewhere  in  Ohio,  as  a  central 
point,  and  inviting  me  to  accept  the  position  of  Governor.  Polit- 
ical positions  and  candidacies  of  various  kinds  had  already  been 
proposed  to  me  from  different  quarters,  and  declined.  Whatever 
attraction  might  exist  in  a  noisy  competition  for  the  favor  of  an 
ignorant  populace,  must  be  much  impaired  by  a  sense  of  the  incom- 
petence, disorder,  corruption  and  waste  which  seems  everywhere  to 
degrade  the  administration  of  public  affairs  under  such  a  system. 
The  intervention  of  an  appointing  power,  itself  selected  and  sup- 
ported in  the  same  manner,  cannot  much  improve  the  result;  and, 
moreover,  one  holding  such  heterodox  views  on  the  subject  at 
present  dear  above  all  others  to  the  rabble,  could  scarcely  conceal 
his  thoughts  and  receive  their  support  with  honesty.  Besides, 


OFFERED   A    POSITION   BY   BEN   BUTLER  125 

I  preferred  independence  of  opinion  and  action,  and  such  occupa- 
tion as  tended  to  associations  with  educated  and  intelligent  per- 
sons, rather  than  such  miscellaneous  scramble  for  the  favor  of  the 
masses  as  is  inseparable  from  a  vulgar  contest  for  votes. 

I  had,  therefore,  resolved  to  decline  all  temptations  to  a  public 
life,  and  refused  Butler's  invitation  on  the  simple  plea  that  my 
attention  had  been  directed  to  other  and  different  objects.  To 
this,  Butler  replied  that  I  could  have  little  idea  of  what  I  was 
refusing.  That  I  would  practically  have  charge  of  the  selection  of 
the  grounds,  and  the  construction  of  extensive  buildings,  and 
would  be  but  little  interfered  with  in  the  inauguration  of  system- 
atic government  and  discipline.  Since  Butler  and  I  had  scarcely 
ever  got  along  together  a  single  week  without  friction,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  understand  why  he  sought  to  shower  his  favor  on  me 
on  this  occasion.  Was  it  a  scheme  to  get  me  under  his  control  and 
shut  my  mouth  on  his  financial  adventures  among  the  bankers, 
insurance  companies,  gas-works  and  other  fiscal  institutions  of 
Norfolk?  Or  a  conscientious  effort  to  atone  for  his  treatment  at 
Petersburg,  now  that  his  own  military  exploits  had  become  a 
laughing-stock?  Or  an  honest  appreciation  of  my  fitness  for  the 
special  purpose  in  view?  I  do  not  know,  and  probably  shall 
never  know,  but  with  a  certain  amount  of  good  nature,  which 
others  might  call  vanity,  am  willing  to  allow  him  credit  for  the  last. 

At  the  present  time  and  for  some  years  past,  one  of  the  least 
agreeable  social  features  of  our  country  is  the  want  of  regular  train- 
ing in  some  definite  trade  or  industry  which  is  the  hard  lot  of  a 
large  proportion  of  native-born  youth.  No  doubt  so  many  causes 
conduce  to  this,  that  it  would  be  mere  empiricism  to  select  one  or 
two  to  bear  the  entire  burden,  though  certainly  a  few  seem  to 
stand  out  pre-eminently.  Semicollegiate  education  at  the  public 
expense,  which  tends  to  degrade  manual  labor,  while  substituting 
nothing  better  than  scheming  adventure;  trades-unionism,  which 
forbids  or  limits  apprenticeship  and  competition;  an  ostentatious 
style  of  living,  by  the  uncultivated  prosperous;  the  influx  of  a 
bestial  class  of  emigrants,  with  whom  close  association  is  distaste- 
ful to  our  own  youth — all  these  contribute  to  the  difficulty,  but  in 
addition  to  them,  during  the  period  succeeding  the  war,  a  large 


126  THE  KETURN   TO   CIVIL  LIFE   AND   BUSINESS 

number  of  young  men  owed  their  want  of  industrial  training  to 
their  absence  from  civil  life  and  its  instructions  during  the  critical 
years  of  adolescence.  In  the  volunteer  army  they  had  not  only 
been  unaccustomed  to  regular  industry,  but  had  been  prematurely 
entrusted  with  minor  titles,  responsibilities  and  authority,  and  so 
indiscriminately  bepraised  by  orators,  press  and  politicians,  that 
it  was  naturally  hard  for  them  to  subside  into  insignificant  drudg- 
ery on  the  collapse  of  the  war.  The  successful  politicians  who, 
though  rarely  commanding  much  confidence  in  private  life,  are 
collectively  and  euphemistically  termed  'the  Government/  with 
their  usual  sagacity,  increased  and  prolonged  the  difficulty  by 
conferring  so-called  'brevet'  titles  on  all  their  political  friends  who 
took  the  trouble  to  ask  for  them,  and  fairly  plastered  the  country 
with  high-sounding  and  ridiculous  titles,  indicative  of  nothing  real 
in  the  past,  and  therefore  in  themselves  deceptive  and  demoraliz- 
ing. The  land  has  accordingly  been  ever  since  infested  with 
'Generals'  who  never  commanded  so  much  as  a  wagon  train; 
'Colonels'  who  had  fought  and  bled  only  in  the  newspapers! 
and  acres  of  Majors,  Captains  and  so  forth,  who  had  been  only 
useful  in  the  telegraph  or  transportation  service,  or  officious  about 
'Sanitary  Commissions,'  or  in  utilizing  the  'soldier  vote.' 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  men  inexperienced  in  affairs  and  misled 
into  false  ideas  of  their  own  importance,  should  shrink  from  a 
return  to  common  labor.  Socialists  and  magazinists  may  rave  of 
the  beauty  and  dignity  of  labor,  but  they  all  take  care  to  keep 
away  from  it  themselves,  and  all  men — whatever  it  suits  them  to 
profess — testify  by  their  acts,  a  ready  willingness  to  abandon  its 
attractiveness  to  others,  when  they  can.  It  remains  a  well-nigh 
universal  fact  that  the  successful  men  are  not  those  who  labor,  but 
those  who  by  intelligent  combination  and  organization,  control  the 
labor  of  the  masses.  A  cobbler  who  cobbles,  is  still  a  cobbler, 
whatever  title  he  may  hang  up  in  his  shop,  and  a  hungry  tailor  gets 
no  more  for  his  coats,  for  being  dubbed  'Colonel.'  The  hard 
truths  underlying  these  considerations — though  of  course  vigor- 
ously denied  by  all  true  patriots — did  nevertheless  at  that  period 
turn  many  disappointed  persons  to  the  possibilities  of  that  easy, 
overpaid  and  specious  pursuit,  known  in  America  as  'politics.' 


THE   VALUE   OF  MILITARY  TITLES  127 

In  a  free  country,  anyone  out  of  jail  is  good  enough  to  serve  the 
public.  Neither  training,  talents  nor  character  are  essential  for 
collecting  the  fees  of  office;  and  with  the  multitude,  he  who  natters 
and  bawls  the  loudest  is  usually  the  fittest  for  their  choice.  In 
this  trade,  a  pseudo-military  title  was  at  once  a  convenient  dis- 
tinction, and  a  badge  of  'loyalty,'  and  hence  for  many  years,  and 
indeed  to  this  day,  the  mob  might  select  from  an  imposing  array 
of  rum-selling  'Generals'  and  pilfering  'Colonels'  its  favorite 
for  any  public  function,  from  cleaning  the  gutters,  to  spouting 
patriotism  in  the  Senate. 

To  avoid  too  much  curiosity  respecting  such  titles,  and  the 
peaceful  and  not  too  creditable  exploits  by  which  they  were  often 
won,  quasi-military  societies  were  formed  for  mutual  assurance, 
admiration  and  support,  such  as  Grand  Armies,  Loyal  Legions, 
Sons  of  Veterans,  and  so  forth,  and  at  least  the  forms  of  grandilo- 
quence kept  alive  by  'Camp  fires,'  Lodges,  Grand  Commanderies, 
and  similar  playthings.  So  far  from  real  inquiry  into  titles  and 
records,  it  has  been  a  point  of  civility  to  give  a  true  patriot  a  peg 
higher  rank  than  he  claimed,  and  the  donkey  whose  incompetence, 
or  worse,  had  injured  the  service  and  degraded  his  office,  or  the 
cheat  who  never  was  in  real  military  service  at  all,  readily  got  his 
own  record  endorsed  by  lying  generously  about  those  of  his  com- 
rades. I  have  personally  known  the  President  of  Councils  in  a 
neighboring  city,  who  was  dismissed  from  the  service  for  stealing  a 
horse;  a  high  official  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  who  required  much  tough 
swearing  to  get  the  mark  of  'Deserted'  expunged  from  his  official 
record;  and  a  gay  pensioner,  whose  only  wound  was  a  sabre-cut 
laid  on  by  myself  for  mutiny  before  his  first  and  final  month  in  the 
service  had  expired. 

In  view  of  such  circumstances,  which  cannot  be  justly  called 
exaggerated,  though  with  our  easy-going  American  optimism  we 
generally  do  not  speak  so  plainly  in  public,  the  game  of  politics 
offered  little  attraction  to  anyone  of  sound  information  and  inde- 
pendent thought.  Whether  as  a  vehicle  of  ambition  or  a  means 
of  support,  it  was  mean  and  uncertain,  beset  with  concealments 
and  duplicity,  surrounded  with  associations  revolting  to  a  person 
of  taste,  and  entirely  irreconcilable  with  any  independence  of 


128  THE   RETURN   TO    CIVIL   LIFE   AND    BUSINESS 

thought  or  action.  Any  promptings  of  that  sort  of  ambition  that 
I  may  have  ever  entertained,  readily  gave  way  to  such  convictions, 
and  though  many  well-meant  efforts  were  from  time  to  time 
applied  to  make  use  of  any  attractions  I  might  offer  to  the  public  as 
a  candidate,  they  were  put  aside,  like  General  Butler's  proposition, 
without  difficulty,  and  I  have  never  felt  an  hour  of  regret. 

For  a  considerable  time  after  the  war,  the  disposition  of  the 
successful  politicians  being  severe  and  sanguinary  toward  the  van- 
quished, it  was  supposed  the  regular  army  must  be  kept  up  to  a 
much  larger  force  than  previously — probably  to  fifty  regiments  at 
least — and  an  appointment  was  proposed  to  me  that  I  was  for  a 
time  tempted  to  accept,  notwithstanding  my  objections  to  the 
public  service  and  the  different  course  on  which  I  had  already 
embarked.  But  though  arms  as  a  profession  would  at  that  time 
have  been  familiar  and  congenial,  the  cold  judgment  which  is  not 
the  least  valuable  heritage  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  race,  whispered 
two  serious  objections.  First,  that  no  branch  of  regular  Govern- 
ment service  could  long  be  compatible  with  personal  independence, 
and  second,  that  my  crippled  physical  condition  must  painfully 
impair  the  activity  required  for  the  infantry  or  cavalry  command, 
which  alone  I  had  a  right  to  expect,  in  the  absence  of  technical 
military  education.  Had  access  to  employment  in  civil  life  been 
at  this  time  absolutely  barred,  I  am  by  no  means  sure  how  far 
these  sober  views  would  have  controlled  my  course,  especially 
when  first  smarting  under  the  serious  pecuniary  losses  entailed  by 
the  'Legal  Tender  Act.'  But  fortunately  such  was  not  the  case, 
and  I  escaped  the  rock  of  public  life  upon  which  so  many  fair 
careers  have  been  wrecked. 

After  the  most  pressing  fiscal  and  physical  difficulties  of  the 
Union  Canal  Company  had  been  got  into  a  fair  way  of  adjustment, 
and  the  business  so  carefully  organized  that  it  was  capable  of  super- 
vision and  general  direction  at  the  expense  of  a  small  portion  of 
my  time,  I  accepted  the  presidency  of  a  Zinc  Mining  and  Manufac- 
turing Company,  and  after  devoting  some  time  to  its  effective 
organization,  still  found  myself  with  surplus  time  and  energies 
available  for  other  purposes.  About  this  time  I  was  offered  by  my 
friend,  Theodore  F.  Randolph,  then  president  of  the  Morris  and 


CARRYING   ON   STOCK   OPERATIONS  129 

Essex  Railroad  Company,  the  general  superintendency  of  that 
road,  with  a  salary  larger  than  both  those  I  was  already  drawing. 
But  as  its  acceptance  would  have  required  a  residence  either  at  New 
York,  or  at  some  point  on  the  line,  and  necessarily  broken  up  my 
connection  with  Philadelphia,  domestic  considerations  constrained 
me  to  decline  it.  Randolph  afterwards  became  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  and  later  a  United  States  Senator  from  the  same  State. 
He  was  a  well-educated  and  accomplished  gentleman,  an  able  man 
of  affairs,  and  one  of  the  most  delightful  companions  I  have  ever 
known.  At  various  times  I  travelled  extensively  with  him  in 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  our  friendship  and  intimacy 
was  maintained  by  frequent  mutual  visits  till  his  death  at  his  home 
in  Morristown,  N.  J.,  in  1883.  Mrs.  Randolph  was  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and  quite  as  interesting  in  her  own 
way  as  her  excellent  and  distinguished  husband. 

As  my  connection  with  Randolph  and  his  railroad  carried  me 
frequently  to  New  York,  I  made  the  acquaintance  there  of  a 
number  of  the  large  stock  operators  of  that  city,  and  at  one  time 
yielded  much  more  than  was  wise  to  the  fascination  of  their 
exciting  but  dangerous  game.  After  some  considerable  experi- 
ence in  it,  I  record  my  deliberate  opinion  that  nothing  that  is  at 
all  tolerated  by  the  business  world,  is  more  demoralizing  and 
dangerous,  or  more  certain  to  lead  ultimately  to  grief.  It  is 
demoralizing  because  it  absorbs  one's  attention  from  all  forms  of 
steady  industry;  dangerous,  because  the  amounts  at  risk  are  sure 
to  exceed  one's  real  capital  and  proper  credit,  and  that,  if  persisted 
in  long,  it  is  a  certain  road  to  ruin,  is  matter  of  common  observa- 
tion. I  am  glad  to  say  my  eyes  did  not  remain  long  closed  to  its 
specious  deceptions,  and  I  therefore  escaped  disaster,  but  on  the 
contrary,  after  being  several  times  involved  far  beyond  my  means 
of  payment,  at  last  seized  a  moment  when  I  was  far  ahead  of  the 
game  to  withdraw  from  it  forever,  and  I  have  never  since  been 
tempted  beyond  actual  means  of  payment.  At  the  present  time 
most  of  the  large  stock  gambling  is  carried  on  at  New  York  or 
Chicago.  But  at  the  tune  spoken  of  there  were  still  some  large 
and  bold  operators  in  Philadelphia,  among  whom  was  engineered, 
about  the  year  1867,  one  of  the  completest  'corners'  that  ever 


130  THE   RETURN  TO   CIVIL  LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

mystified  and  alarmed  the  'street,'  but  which  was  nevertheless 
entirely  frittered  away  and  lost  by  want  of  bold  measures  at  the 
critical  moment. 

I  was  at  the  time  myself  operating  for  a  rise  in  the  stock  of  the 
Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad  Company,  and  held  a  consider- 
able quantity  in  possession  or  subject  to  call,  when  I  was  waited 
on  by  a  large  operator  whom  I  will  call  K.,  who  after  displaying 
much  curiosity  respecting  the  amount  of  my  holding,  at  last 
stated  that  he  was  one  of  a  party  who  held  'calls'  for  more  stock 
than  there  was  in  existence  and  available.  After  deducting  the 
non-saleable  stock  then  belonging  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company  and  to  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  Erie,  it  was  shown 
that  short  sales  had  been  made  to  the  combination  in  excess  of 
the  entire  available  remainder,  for  which  contracts  or  'calls' 
were  held  upon  responsible  persons  and  firms.  Nevertheless,  as 
I  had  purchased  on  my  own  judgment  and  without  knowledge  of 
those  facts,  I  declined  to  place  my  holdings  in  the  pool,  subject 
to  their  management,  as  desired,  merely  agreeing  upon  a  general 
co-operation  as  long  as  the  'corner'  should  be  managed  to  meet 
my  views.  But  the  event  showed  that  those  parties  had  fallen 
by  accident  on  a  larger  and  better  thing  than  they  were  capable 
of  managing. 

The  facts  becoming  partially  known  and  the  stock  scarce  and 
panicky,  I  urged  them  to  stop  talking,  go  to  New  York  and  bor- 
row sufficient  funds  to  make  a  simultaneous  and  general  call  of 
every  share  they  were  entitled  to,  which  being  impossible  to 
supply,  must  have  brought  the  matter  to  a  crisis  and  produced 
an  immediate  settlement  on  the  buyers'  terms.  This  they  re- 
peatedly promised,  but  as  constantly  neglected,  contenting  them- 
selves with  local  borrowings  on  the  stock  itself,  and  a  series  of 
small  calls  which  were  met  by  the  'shorts'  borrowing  from  the 
lenders  and  each  other.  Becoming  disgusted  at  this  peddling 
method,  by  which  they  were  in  danger  of  frittering  away  the  real 
advantages  they  possessed,  I  remonstrated  in  vain,  but  could  not 
bring  them  to  the  decisive  point.  At  last  I  called  on  the  assem- 
bled party  for  precise  information  of  their  real  plans,  but  was 
refused  such  information,  on  the  ground  that  as  I  declined  to 


THE   FAILURE   OP  A   CORNER   IN   STOCKS  131 

deposit  my  stock  in  the  pool  I  was  not  entitled  to  further  knowl- 
edge of  their  position  and  designs.  So  far  from  being  forced  into 
the  pool  by  this  reticence,  as  intended,  no  course  of  theirs  could 
have  suited  me  better,  since  whatever  implied  obligation  might 
have  been  previously  claimed  against  me,  was  now  incontestably 
dissolved  by  such  concealment.  I  therefore  retired  before  they 
had  time  to  change  their  minds,  went  directly  to  my  brokers, 
and  ordered  every  share  of  my  stock  sold  the  same  day  to  what- 
ever depths  the  price  might  fall.  The  market  of  course  yielded 
rapidly  under  such  bona  fide  sales  and  actual  deliveries,  but  I 
closed  out  every  share,  at  a  profit  of  many  thousand  dollars,  be- 
fore night,  and  so  advised  everyone,  including  the  pool.  Next 
day  one  of  the  party  sold  out  heavily  on  his  companions,  the 
stock  became  plenty,  and  in  a  day  or  two  the  price  had  fallen 
from  near  par  to  about  one-third  of  that  amount,  or  perhaps  less. 
The  'corner'  which  they  had  at  one  time  really  possessed,  and 
needed  only  a  fair  degree  of  boldness  to  manage,  was  frittered 
away  and  lost,  and  the  entire  party,  instead  of  reaping  a  fortune 
at  one  time  actually  within  their  reach,  were  ruined. 

The  New  York  and  Erie  stock  was  at  that  time  a  famous  foot- 
ball in  New  York — Daniel  Drew,  first,  and  afterwards  Fisk  and 
Gould  being  in  perpetual  contention  over  it  with  the  elder  Vander- 
bilt  and  each  other,  and  the  numerous  minor  operators  of  Wall 
Street.  Though  considerably  involved  in  it  from  time  to  time 
with  little  or  no  real  knowledge,  and  sometimes  placed  in  situa- 
tions where,  if  compelled  to  realize,  I  must  have  lost  everything, 
I  ultimately  gained  great  success  in  this  stock,  the  identity  and 
value  of  which,  as  in  the  case  of  many  of  the  favorites  of  that  day, 
has  long  since  been  swept  away  by  financial  reorganizations. 
While  emerging  from  one  of  these  struggles,  on  the  summit  of 
the  wave  I  called  seriously  to  mind  the  sharp  lesson  endured  in 
Panama  in  1850,  and  then  and  there  resolved  to  quit  forever  this 
specious  form  of  gambling.  While  such  operations  may  be  con- 
ducted without  any  moral  wrong,  since  they  assuredly  possess 
certain  broad  distinctions  from  mere  vulgar  card  gambling,  yet 
they  are  over-exciting  to  the  mind,  tending  to  divert  it  from  the 
regular  pursuits  of  reputable  industry,  and  brilliant  as  they  seem, 


132  THE   RETURN   TO   CIVIL  LIFE  AND   BUSINESS 

invariably  end,  sooner  or  later,  in  disaster  and  generally  in  per- 
sonal discredit.  Prudential  reasons,  alone,  are  therefore  quite 
sufficient  to  warrant  anyone  in  letting  them  severely  alone,  when 
once  convinced  that  permanent,  assured  and  respectable  success 
in  life  can  not  be  successfully  based  on  any  form  of  gambling. 

In  June,  1867,  I  was  desired  by  Mr.  John  Edgar  Thomson  to 
meet  a  number  of  persons  at  his  office.  On  this  occasion  there 
were  present,  among  others,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  Simon  Cameron, 
Ex-Gov.  William  F.  Packer,  Allison  White,  A.  K.  Gumming, 
John  A.  Gamble  and  others.  Mr.  Thomson  desired  to  know  what 
information  I  possessed  respecting  the  West  Branch  and  Susque- 
hanna  Canal,  extending  from  Clark's  Ferry  on  the  Susquehanna, 
to  Farrandsville  on  the  West  Branch,  a  distance  of  about  120 
miles.  I  replied  that  I  was  well  acquainted  with  its  traffic  con- 
nections and  tonnage  resources,  but  knew  little  of  its  physical 
condition.  It  was  then  asked  how  much  time  would  be  required 
to  make  a  confidential  examination  of  the  facts  and  a  reasonably 
full  report  on  its  physical  and  financial  condition,  commercial 
resources  and  value.  To  this,  after  some  reflection,  it  was  an- 
swered that  such  a  report  could  be  submitted  within  five  days, 
provided  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Company's  telegraph  line,  and 
its  ticket  agent  at  Middletown  should  be  placed  at  my  disposal. 

This  was  done,  and  I  telegraphed  to  Mr.  H.,  my  chief  engineer 
at  Lebanon,  to  take  the  first  train  to  Middletown,  prepared  for  a 
week's  absence,  and  enquire  of  the  ticket  agent  for  specific  tele- 
graphic instructions.  By  this  method  all  publicity  was  avoided, 
and  it  was  only  among  entire  strangers,  both  to  him  and  to  me,  at 
Middletown,  that  the  actual  mission  could  be  disclosed,  if  dis- 
closed at  all.  He  was  directed  to  go  by  train  to  Clark's  Ferry 
thence  walk  in  one  day,  by  the  tow-path,  to  Northumberland, 
and  from  that  place  mail  his  report  of  the  first  day's  examination. 
The  following  day  to  repeat  the  examination  and  report  from 
Williamsport,  and  on  the  third  evening  from  Farrandsville  or 
Lock  Haven.  Although,  in  view  of  the  distances,  such  examina- 
tion could  be  but  superficial,  it  nevertheless  supplied  H.  with 
three  pretty  good  days'  work,  notwithstanding  he  was  an  expert 
canal  engineer,  already  possessed  much  knowledge  respecting  the 


MERGING   OF   CANAL   COMPANIES  133 

line,  and  knew  how  most  quickly  to  acquire  more.  As  these 
daily  reports  came  in,  they  were  collated  and  connected,  com- 
plete commercial,  financial  and  tonnage  statements  were  added, 
and  at  the  time  promised,  Mr.  Thomson  received  the  most  com- 
prehensive report  the  time  admitted  of,  and  possessed  the  ele- 
ments of  a  better  knowledge  of  the  property  than  had  probably 
ever  been  in  the  hands  of  its  own  managers. 

Two  or  three  weeks  passed  without  anything  more  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  I  myself  was  so  ignorant  of  Mr.  Thomson's  real  object, 
that  I  was  simply  speculating  on  the  probable  dimensions  of  the 
check  he  would  send  me  for  the  service,  when  I  was  again  sent 
for  and  informed  by  Mr.  Thomson  that  his  Company  had  pur- 
chased a  majority  of  the  Canal  Company's  stock,  to  be  paid  for 
in  bonds  of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  Company,  the  latter  being  a 
new  corporation  recently  chartered  to  purchase  from  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company  the  main  line  of  canal,  extending 
from  Columbia  to  Hollidaysburg,  formerly  acquired  by  the  Rail- 
road by  purchase  from  the  State,  and  connecting  with  the  line 
now  acquired  at  Clark's  Ferry. 

Both  companies  were  to  be  reorganized  with  a  combined  mile- 
age of  over  300  miles,  and  I  was  invited  to  assume  the  Presidency. 
Of  all  conjectures  on  the  subject,  this — owing  to  various  circum- 
stances too  numerous  to  relate  here — had  been  the  last  to  occur  to 
me,  and  I  was  somewhat  taken  by  surprise.  My  reply  was  that 
if  the  line  thus  constituted  was  to  be  used  merely  as  a  pack-horse 
for  the  Railroad,  there  could  be  little  use  for  anything  more  than 
a  simple  engineer  organization  to  restore  and  preserve  its  physical 
condition,  but  if  the  management  was  to  enjoy  real  commercial 
independence  with  reference  only  to  its  own  capacity  for  business 
and  profit,  I  thought  there  was  in  it  a  fair  career  for  anyone,  and 
I  would  be  glad  to  undertake  it. 

The  matter  was  thus  arranged  and  in  the  course  of  a  year  or 
two,  the  two  Canals,  pursuant  to  appropriate  legislation  and 
financial  adjustment,  were  merged  into  a  single  corporation. 
Subsequently,  in  order  to  consolidate  and  acquire  a  firm  hold  of 
the  anthracite  coal  trade  from  the  Wyoming  and  Lykens  dis- 
tricts, the  Wyoming  Valley  Canal  Co.,  and  the  Wiconisco  Canal 


134  THE   RETURN   TO   CIVIL   LIFE   AND   BUSINESS 

Co.,  were  merged  in  the  same  corporation  under  the  common 
corporate  name  of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  Company,  of  which 
I  have  ever  since  continued  to  be  President,  though  not  with- 
out earnest  efforts  during  later  years,  to  be  relieved,  without 
injuring  the  interests  or  the  partial  prejudices  of  my  friends. 
Prior  to  the  year  1869, 1  had  urged  upon  Mr.  Thomson  the  policy 
of  procuring  legislation  prohibiting  or  limiting  the  ownership  of 
coal-producing  lands  by  transporting  corporations,  but  by  that 
time  the  acquisition  of  such  property  by  the  several  railroads 
leading  to  New  York,  threatened  to  absorb  and  permanently 
control  all  the  production  of  the  Wyoming  District,  and  the 
proposed  restrictive  legislation  having  been  neglected,  it  became 
plain  to  me  that  unless  we  should  also  acquire  control  of  such 
lands,  the  entire  coal  tonnage  of  the  canal  line  would  be  irre- 
trievably lost  and  the  value  of  the  line  destroyed. 

I  therefore  felt  constrained,  under  these  new  circumstances,  to 
reverse  my  former  counsel  and  recommend  similar  purchases  on 
behalf  of  our  own  transportation  interests.  With  the  approval 
of  Mr.  Thomson,  to  whom  only  the  project  was  confided,  refusals 
of  numerous  parcels  of  land  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Wyoming 
coal  field  contiguous  to  the  canal,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
over  6000  acres  were  obtained;  the  parcels  being  in  such  strategic 
locations  with  relation  to  each  other  as  to  dominate  the  inter- 
mediate tracts  and  deter  other  large  corporate  purchasers.  These 
lands  were  purchased — with  more  or  less  opposition  from  other 
directors,  suppressed  under  the  skillful  advice  of  Thomson — and 
the  enterprise  organized  into  a  corporation  since  known  as  the 
Susquehanna  Coal  Company.  Possessing  but  trifling  cash  capital, 
such  use  was  made  of  its  stock,  bonds  and  credit,  together  with 
those  of  the  Canal  Company  and  some  guarantees  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company,  that  the  lands  were  obtained  and 
held,  more  than  two  millions  of  dollars  invested  in  the  construc- 
tion of  productive  improvements,  and  an  annual  productive 
capacity  of  two  million  tons  gradually  acquired.  For  some 
years,  I  frequently  stood,  personally,  upon  the  Company's  paper 
for  much  larger  amounts  than  I  was  worth,  and  was  obliged  to 
use  the  entire  capital  and  credit  of  its  sales  agents  at  New  York, 


A  VERY  SUCCESSFUL  OUTCOME  135 

Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Chicago,  and  minor  points,  and 
it  would  be  difficult  to  convey  to  others  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  financial  struggles  incident  to  this  heavy  burden,  between 
the  years  of  1869  and  1875.  Mr.  Thomson  was  my  only  real 
confidant,  others  being  for  a  long  period  so  timid  and  doubtful 
that  a  part  only  of  the  difficulties  could  be  imparted  to  them,  but 
from  him  of  course  there  were  no  reticences,  and  to  this  day  I  look 
back  with  ever-increasing  admiration  at  the  imperturbable 
courage  and  equability  of  his  character — never  betraying  the 
slightest  excitement  himself,  and  always  skillful  to  moderate  the 
ill-advised  elation  of  others  when  things  went  well,  and  to  hold 
up  one's  sinking  spirits  when  all  seemed  lost. 

The  ultimate  success  of  this  Company  has  been  wonderful,  if 
not  unique.  It  may  be  said  to  have  started  on  credit  and  really 
earned  its  own  capital,  or  most  of  it;  gradually  paid  off  from 
earnings,  the  whole  of  its  floating  and  much  of  its  funded  debt; 
acquired  a  large  amount  of  other  valuable  property,  and  now 
possesses  in  its  treasury,  cash,  or  investments  immediately  con- 
vertible, equal  to  its  entire  capital  stock,  after  yielding  for  many 
years  annual  dividends,  mostly  of  ten  per  cent.  I  have  in  late 
years  purchased  for  its  sinking  fund,  at  120  per  cent,  large 
amounts  of  its  bonds  originally  placed,  with  difficulty,  at  65,  and 
would  gladly  buy  them  all  in  if  they  could  be  had,  but  unfortu- 
nately at  the  time  of  their  issue  in  1871,  the  prevailing  object 
was  to  defer  their  maturity  as  long  as  possible,  and  they  do  not 
mature  till  A.  D.  1911.  In  addition  to  the  above  pecuniary  suc- 
cess of  this  Company  itself,  and  what  is  of  far  greater  importance, 
it  has  for  many  years  past  supplied  to  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road and  Canal  Lines  an  annual  tonnage  ranging  from  one  and  a 
half  to  two  million  tons  for  transportation  to  nearly  all  parts  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  exportation. 


CHAPTER  VII 

v 

INCIDENTS  AND  REFLECTIONS  IN  CONCLUSION 

John  Edgar  Thomson,  without  whose  tranquil  courage,  calm 
resolution  and  transcendent  skill  in  administration  such  results 
as  those  briefly  and  inadequately  sketched  in  the  last  chapter 
could  never  have  been  attained,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  useful  men  that  this  country,  so  fertile  in  practical  talent, 
has  ever  produced.  It  is  easy  enough  for  those  in  whom  judgment 
has  not  been  warped  by  prejudice  or  fear  to  see  and  appreciate 
successful  results,  but  only  to  a  minute  fraction  can  ever  be  known 
the  laborious  and  painful  character  of  the  long  and  weary 
processes  by  which  alone  they  can  be  designed,  prepared  and 
finally  achieved.  There  is  a  certain  cheap  reputation  for  pru- 
dence and  conservatism  always  easy  to  obtain  by  criticising  the 
active  spirits  of  the  day,  and  shaking  one's  head  at  projects  too 
large  for  immediate  general  comprehension.  An  impulsive 
temperament,  impatient  of  artificial  and  unnecessary  obstacles, 
is  often  prone  to  resent  them  by  arguments  and  measures  which, 
though  just,  may  be  ill-timed  or  inexpedient.  Thomson's  expe- 
rience and  knowledge  of  men,  no  less  than  his  calm  mental 
processes  and  changeless  imperturbability  of  temperament,  not 
only  kept  him  free  from  such  errors,  but  could  not  fail  to  moderate 
the  faults  of  his  associates  less  endowed  by  nature  with  those 
priceless  qualities. 

The  life  and  work  of  this  great  man  would  be  a  complete 
history  of  modern  transportation  in  America.  The  period  of 
his  life — February  10,  1808,  to  May  27,  1874 — covered  the  transi- 
tion from  pack-horses  and  Conestoga  wagons,  through  the 
intermediate  expedients  of  turnpikes  and  canals,  to  the  complete 
and  perfect  work  of  railway  lines  thousands  of  miles  long,  and 

136 


THE   GROWTH   OF  TRANSPORTATION   FACILITIES  137 

utilizing  such  vast  aggregations  of  labor,  capital  and  credit  as 
were  previously  unknown  in  the  private  affairs  of  men.  Shallow 
politicians  and  village  demagogues  may  fret  their  brief  hour  on 
the  stage,  in  railing  at  those  great  fruits  of  corporate  association, 
but  every  well-informed  and  thoughtful  person  knows  that  by 
diffusing  population  and  bringing  new  comforts  to  every  hearth, 
they  have  beneficially  influenced  private  and  family  life  far  be- 
yond the  most  optimistic  conceptions  of  our  predecessors  of  even 
one  or  two  generations.  They  have  absolutely  created  modern 
travel  and  transportation,  the  two  greatest  factors  in  existing 
life,  and  have  thus  immeasurably  improved  domestic  resources 
and  comfort.  They  have  scattered  over  an  entire  continent  the 
scanty  population  previously  confined  to  its  shores  and  navigable 
water-ways,  and  revolutionized  the  values  of  all  commodities, 
including  the  fixed  surface  of  the  earth  itself.  By  augmenting 
the  capacity  of  the  country  to  sustain  population,  they  have 
practically  made  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  grew  before. 
Politically,  they  have — without  impairing  the  content  which  the 
world's  experience  proves  can  only  reside  in  local  government — 
welded  together  a  mass  of  isolated  states  of  no  great  separate 
importance,  into  the  mightiest  confederacy  the  world  has  ever 
known,  and  seem  to  suggest  possibilities  of  terminating  the 
strife  of  nations  by  combining  in  friendly  federal  relations,  all  the 
warring  peoples  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Thomson  was  descended  from  an  ancient  Quaker  family 
well  known  in  Delaware  County  since  the  first  settlement  of  the 
country.  Bred  to  the  profession  of  surveying  and  engineering, 
whose  precise  drafts  and  unyielding  figures  tend  rather  to  narrow 
and  restrict  the  mental  horizon,  his  generous  talents  readily 
soared  above  such  limitations,  and  while  retaining  the  professional 
judgment  and  exact  methods  to  which  he  had  been  trained,  his 
mind  quickly  embraced  all  the  defects  and  possibilities  of  the 
great  and  complex  subject  of  transportation. 

What  the  development  of  this  science — so  eminently  important 
to  our  wide  American  domain — has  accomplished  during  a  single 
lifetime,  for  the  diffusion,  comfort  and  multiplication  of  man- 
kind, can  best  be  realized  by  such  as  reflect,  that  it  now  costs  less 


138  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS  IN   CONCLUSION 

time  and  money  to  move  a  given  quantity  of  merchandise  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  than  it  cost  sixty  years  ago  to  carry  it  from 
Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia;  and  that  thousands  of  persons  are 
now  constantly  traversing,  in  a  few  days  and  at  trifling  expense, 
the  same  vast  distance,  where  at  a  still  more  recent  period, 
months  and  even  years  were  required  for  the  purpose,  where 
failure  and  death  lurked  at  every  step,  and  where  none  even 
ventured  but  the  young,  the  vigorous  and  the  brave. 

Thomson  lost  his  parents  at  an  early  age,  and  his  first  profes- 
sional successes  were  achieved  without  patronage  or  assistance. 
He  was,  successively,  engineer  on  the  State  Railroad,  the  Cam- 
den  and  Amboy,  the  Georgia  Central  and  was  finally  elected,  in 
1847,  chief  engineer  of  the  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1852,  its  pres- 
ident, which  position  he  retained  till  his  death.  As  its  engineer 
he  solved  the  hitherto  impracticable  problem  of  carrying  it 
across  the  Alleghenies,  and  as  president  he  was  the  author  and 
steady  promoter  of  the  construction  and  acquisition  of  the 
thousands  of  miles  of  ultra-montane  connections  which  have 
made  it  the  greatest  line  in  the  world,  given  wealth  to  its  propri- 
etors and  patrons,  and  built  up  to  imperial  dimensions  the  great 
Commonwealth  in  which  it  possesses  its  seat  and  capital.  Since 
his  day,  no  doubt  Paul  may  have  planted  and  Apollos  watered 
with  skill  and  success,  but  it  was  his  eye  of  faith  that  first  dis- 
cerned the  measureless  potencies  lying  hid  in  the  misty  future, 
and  his  courage,  energy,  foresight  and  unceasing  labors  that 
secured  them  for  his  state  and  city. 

Strong,  resolute  and  fixed  in  purpose,  he  was  peculiarly  simple, 
unostentatious,  and  reserved  in  manner.  His  judgments  were 
deliberate  and  his  words  few,  but  he  was  an  attentive  and  able 
listener  and  neglected  no  argument  worthy  of  notice  on  either 
side.  So  slowly  were  his  conclusions  formed  as  sometimes  to  try 
the  patience  of  more  ardent  spirits;  but  once  fixed,  they  remained 
unchangeable  and  were  but  consolidated  and  strengthened  under 
opposition  and  hostility.  He  was  slow  to  give  his  confidence  to 
individuals,  but  once  given,  he  was  a  rock  of  refuge  to  his  friends, 
abounding  with  trust,  confidence  and  support  that  never  wavered, 
and  impregnable  to  the  influence  of  open  or  secret  animosities. 


AN  APPRECIATION   OF  JOHN  EDGAR  THOMSON  139 

He  rarely  made  mistakes  himself,  but  was  full  of  charity  for 
others,  and  never  reproached  his  friends  for  errors  of  judgment. 
Unlike  many  others  with  somewhat  similar  opportunities,  he  was 
careless  of  his  private  fortune,  which  was  left  very  much  to  the 
care  of  his  secretary  and  personal  assistants.  All  his  time,  labor 
and  thought  were  given  to  his  great  work,  his  sole  amusement 
or  relaxation  being  found  in  his  domestic  relations.  Exerting 
during  many  years  a  potential  voice  in  public  affairs,  it  was  never 
used  for  his  personal  advantage.  While  making  others  Senators 
and  Governors,  he  persistently  refused  official  preferment  for 
himself,  and  usually  gave  similar  advice  to  his  personal  friends. 
Personally,  I  owe  to  him  more  than  any  other,  my  steadiness 
of  purpose  in  avoiding  public  or  political  life,  which  of  course 
abounded  with  temptations  and  opportunities  for  such  as  had 
attained  any  prominence  in  the  war. 

Though  numerous  short  biographical  sketches  of  this  great 
man  have  been  published,  and  no  history  of  the  public  works 
and  material  prosperity  of  Pennsylvania,  or  even  of  the  United 
States,  can  ever  be  complete  or  intelligible  without  a  record  of 
his  influence,  his  complete  life  should  be  written  by  some  com- 
petent biographer,  for  Pennsylvania  has  given  birth  to  few  men 
whose  career  has  exerted  such  beneficial  and  enduring  results 
upon  her  fortunes,  or  whose  private  character  would  better 
repay  assiduous  study  and  preservation.  Neither  can  we  forget 
that  his  priceless  services  were  rendered  to  his  country  at  the 
nick  of  time,  for  the  more  we  regard  them  the  more  fixed  must  be 
our  conclusion  that  had  he  come  upon  the  stage  of  action  before 
the  railroad  system  was  invented,  or  after  its  main  channels  were 
established,  the  loss  to  this  Commonwealth  and  its  inhabitants 
would  have  been  far  greater  than  if  a  large  percentage  of  all  her 
modern  politicians  and  legislators  had  perished  at  their  birth. 

These  remarks  have  been  purposely  confined  to  Thomson's 
work  and  public  career,  because  if  one  who  so  loved  and  revered 
him  should  trust  himself  to  attempt  a  description  of  his  personal 
qualities,  he  would  be  in  danger  of  falling  into  what  others  might 
regard  as  indiscriminate  eulogy.  No  words  could  convey  to  those 
who  knew  him  not,  an  adequate  idea  of  the  respect  and  affection 


140  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

which  he  inspired  in  those  who  possessed  his  confidence  and 
friendship.  To  them  his  death,  at  the  untimely  age  of  sixty-six, 
was  a  memorable  loss,  leaving  a  void  reparable  by  no  lapse  of 
time  or  subsequent  event. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  had  at  various  times 
and  in  several  localities  acquired  other  anthracite  property  for 
the  protection  of  its  tonnage,  held  in  nearly  every  variety  of 
tenure — by  direct  ownership  in  fee  or  for  years,  by  control  of  cap- 
ital stock,  by  pecuniary  advances  and  through  the  medium  of 
allied  corporations.  The  great  competitive  struggle  for  concen- 
tration and  cheapness  which  has  been  everywhere  such  a  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  the  last  half  of  the  present  century,  has  been 
nowhere  more  conspicuous  than  with  the  railroads  and  the 
numerous  subsidiary  interests  which  naturally  become  grouped 
about  them.  It  is  the  same  tendency  which  displaying  itself  in 
every  productive  process  of  modern  times,  has  in  a  single  genera- 
tion multiplied  many  times  the  dimensions  of  factories,  the  appli- 
cation of  artificial  power,  and  the  capacity  of  transporting 
agencies;  and  in  the  older  communities,  at  least,  has  directed 
almost  the  entire  increase  of  population  into  cities  and  towns. 

By  such  natural  process  the  various  coal-carrying  canals  and 
coal-mining  interests  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  variously 
acquired,  and  hitherto  heterogeneously  organized  and  managed, 
were  by  or  before  the  year  1879,  brought  together  under  a  single 
management,  thus  rendering  it  practicable,  while  greatly  reduc- 
ing the  aggregate  expenditure,  to  command  the  best  technical 
and  expert  capacity  for  the  increase  of  production  and  corre- 
sponding cheapening  of  cost.  Though  the  unyielding  character 
of  laws  and  charters  still  required  separate  corporate  structures, 
rights,  and  powers,  yet  by  assimilating  all  that  was  not  merely 
formal,  and  extending  to  many  corporate  entities  the  same 
personnel  of  officials  and  directors,  the  main  economic  purpose 
was  effected;  and  notwithstanding  the  unavoidable  sacrifice  of 
small  private  interests  and  the  jealous  suspicions  of  the  ignorant 
portion  of  the  populace,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  general 
public  interests  have  in  that  manner  been  efficiently  promoted. 
These  particular  coal  enterprises,  though  in  many  corporate 


VISITING   MEXICO   AND    CUBA  141 

forms,  with  property  distributed  through  numerous  counties, 
and  inseparably  connected  with  subordinate  bridge,  land,  water, 
timber  and  other  companies,  thus  came  to  fall  under  my  direc- 
tion, requiring  of  course  careful  and  systematic  organization  to 
avoid  an  intolerable  overtaxing  of  individual  time  and  capacity. 
But  both  before  and  since  that  consummation,  I  have  found 
time  to  do  something  toward  maintaining  and  increasing  ac- 
quaintance with  my  own  and  adjacent  countries  by  occasional 
travel.  It  was  I  think  in  the  winter  season  of  1869-70,  that  my 
wife  and  I  sailed  from  New  York  to  Havana,  and  after  some 
interesting  travel  in  that  Island  took  passage  thence  via  Yucatan 
for  Vera  Cruz,  on  the  British  S.  S.  Corsica — which  ill-fated  vessel 
on  her  return  voyage  to  Southampton  via  Havana  and  St. 
Thomas,  foundered  at  sea,  losing  her  captain  and  most  of  her 
crew.  From  Vera  Cruz  we  proceeded  by  the  newly-completed 
English  railway — then  the  only  one  in  Mexico — to  the  capital 
where  a  brief  study  of  the  still-prevailing  feudal  manners  and 
institutions  of  the  country  proved  extremely  interesting.  These 
had  then  been  little  changed  by  the  influx  of  foreign  ideas  and 
persons  so  common  since  the  construction  of  the  American  rail- 
way connections.  As  my  wife  and  myself  could  together  manage 
the  French  and  German,  besides  some  Spanish,  it  was  not  a  mat- 
ter of  much  moment  to  us  that  English  was  then  little  known  or 
used,  though  some  other  strange  social  features  were  of  no  mean 
importance  to  strangers.  The  brigand  system — for  instance- 
was  then  in  its  most  flourishing  condition.  Two  car-loads  of 
infantry  were  attached  to  each  railway  train  from  Vera  Cruz,  and 
a  squadron  of  cavalry  was  in  line  at  each  station  on  the  arrival  of 
the  train.  There  was  difficulty  in  getting  police  permission  to 
take  a  carriage  even  as  far  from  the  capital  as  Chapultepec  and 
Tacubaya  without  an  expensive  military  guard.  The  usual 
escort  of  a  gentleman  taking  an  afternoon  ride  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  city,  was  a  half-dozen  or  more  armed  retainers,  and  the  only 
American  we  saw  in  the  city  was  a  young  man  just  arrived  from 
Acapulco,  who  in  that  moderate  distance  had  been  robbed  four 
times  and  arrived  coatless  and  bootless,  though  the  brigands  had 
refrained  from  stealing  the  animals  which  were  the  property  of 


142  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

the  arriero;  their  policy  being  to  stand  well  with  the  native  peas- 
antry. We  returned  by  the  same  route  via  Pueblo  and  Vera 
Cruz,  to  New  Orleans. 

Later  in  the  same  year,  in  company  with  T.  F.  Randolph,  then 
Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  two  other  gentlemen,  I  made  an 
extensive  tour  through  our  own  Southern  States  to  acquire  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  their  political  condition,  and  the  progress  of 
the  so-called  'reconstruction.'  Carpet-bagging  and  negro  dom- 
ination were  then  in  full  career,  and  presented  phenomena 
which  will  scarcely  be  credited  in  a  more  sober  future  age.  In 
South  Carolina  both  houses  of  the  legislature  were  almost  entirely 
negro,  manipulated  and  led  by  a  few  rascally  New  England 
whites  for  purposes  exclusively  of  plunder.  Pending  the  pas- 
sage of  a  bill,  these  rogues  with  rolls  of  money  openly  dis- 
played, circulated  among  the  black  'statesmen,'  driving  their 
bargains  with  little  attempt  at  concealment,  after  the  completion 
of  which  process,  the  Speaker  considerately  rang  his  little  bell, 
the  house  came  to  order  and  the  vote  thus  openly  purchased  was 
taken  and  recorded!  The  system  would  have  been  ludicrous, 
if  it  had  been  less  destructive.  Under  it  nearly  all  property 
was  destroyed  or  stolen,  and  State  debts  incurred  for  ridiculous 
purposes,  and  to  absurd  amounts;  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
under  pretense  of  supporting  a  negro  militia,  adding  thirteen 
millions  to  its  debt  in  one  year,  an  amount  probably  much 
exceeding  the  value  of  all  taxable  property  in  the  State,  at  the 
time. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  South  Carolina,  which  did  us  the  honor 
of  adjourning  to  receive  a  visit  from  us,  was  composed  of  a  Jew, 
a  negro,  and  a  Yankee — the  last  of  whom  has  since  served  a  term 
in  the  Massachusetts  penitentiary  for  introducing  his  methods 
too  rashly  among  the  property  holders  of  that  Commonwealth, 
which  by  no  means  accepts  for  itself  the  good  things  it  had  pro- 
vided for  South  Carolina.  Before  that  learned  and  august  tri- 
bunal, we  heard  Mr.  Memminger,  Judge  Campbell  and  other 
great  lawyers  of  national  reputation,  arguing  a  case  involving 
the  law  of  contingent  remainder,  affecting  the  estates  of  a  family 
celebrated  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  negro — who  im- 


RECONSTRUCTION  PERIOD   IN  THE   SOUTH  143 

pressed  one  as  the  most  honest  of  the  lot — admitted  in  conversa- 
tion that  he  knew  no  law  and  understood  nothing  of  the  cases  he 
was  called  on  to  decide,  and  would  like  to  resign,  if  permitted  by 
his  party  managers.  In  Atlanta,  our  visit  to  my  old  comrade, 
General  Terry,  Commander  of  the  Military  District,  was  rudely 
interrupted  by  the  carpet-bag  Governor,  one  Bullock,  who,  with 
a  half  dozen  negro  'Senators'  at  his  heels,  made  no  scruple  of 
riding  rough-shod  over  the  General,  whose  official  position  obliged 
him  to  receive,  and  to  a  certain  extent  obey  these  creatures,  with 
the  respect  due  the  titles  they  had  assumed,  and  which  they  could 
not  have  maintained  an  hour  but  for  the  Federal  troops  corruptly 
used  to  keep  up  the  farce.  This  ludicrous  but  vicious  system  was 
maintained  by  the  corrupt  Grant  administration  during  the  eight 
years  of  his  term,  by  the  end  of  which,  little  stealable  property 
remained  available.  The  State  debts  fastened  upon  the  people 
by  unlimited  issues  of  bonds,  often  sold  at  auction  by  the  carpet- 
bag State  officials  for  any  price  they  would  bring,  could  be  in- 
creased no  farther;  and  on  the  disappearance  of  Grant  from  public 
life,  the  system  perished,  mainly  for  want  of  any  more  plunder  to 
sustain  it. 

General  history — false  and  misleading  as  it  notoriously  is — 
will  no  doubt  ultimately  shed  some  real  light  on  the  character  of 
Grant's  administration,  but  a  single  incident  of  it,  which  per- 
sonally concerned  myself,  may  be  related  here.  Prior  to  the 
public  exposure  and  retirement  of  Belknap,  the  pilfering  Secre- 
tary of  War  and  his  fellows,  a  certain  subservient  and  unscrupu- 
lous politician  occupied  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  had  ordered  the  imposition  of  lighthouse,  hospital,  and  other 
marine  taxes  on  canal  boats.  I  was  at  the  time  managing  both 
the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canals,  whose 
boats  were  seized  in  large  numbers,  in  pursuance  of  this  new  legal 
construction.  In  vain  we  bonded  the  boats  and  contested  the 
question  in  the  courts  of  the  despoiling  power  itself,  where  we 
invariably  recovered  judgments  in  our  favor,  every  one  of  which 
remained  and  still  remain  in  force,  unappealed.  The  persecu- 
tion continued  until  some  three  hundred  of  our  boats,  besides 
those  of  other  navigation  companies,  were  under  bond  at  one 


144  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

time,  our  boatmen  alarmed  and  demoralized,  and  the  business 
likely  to  be  ruined.  When  I  showed  the  Secretary  that  our  con- 
tention was  supported  not  only  by  the  uniform  decisions  of  the 
U.  S.  Admiralty  Courts,  but  by  an  unbroken  series  of  legal  con- 
structions by  the  Treasury  Department  of  every  former  Federal 
administration,  he  had  the  impudence  to  reply  that  his  Depart- 
ment had  rules  of  its  own  and  paid  little  attention  to  the  Courts. 
As  nothing  could  be  expected  from  an  official  who  ranked  himself 
above  the  laws  and  judiciary  of  the  government  that  employed 
him,  I  therefore  determined  to  appeal  to  the  President  himself,  as 
the  sworn  defender  and  executor  of  Federal  laws. 

General  Grant  was  at  this  time  residing  at  Long  Branch,  in  a 
cottage  not  long  before  presented  to  him  by  certain  Philadelphia 
satellites  and  office-seekers,  and  owned  another  one  close  by 
which  had  been  given  him  by  other  emulous  New  York  persons 
of  the  same  class.  Arrived  at  Long  Branch,  I  met  with  Senator 
Frelinghuysen  of  N.  J.,  who  though  a  Republican  and  a  friend  of 
Grant,  was  a  gentleman  and  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  who  at  my 
request  agreed  to  accompany  me  and  assist — if  required — at  the 
discussion.  Grant,  who  had  not  forgotten  me,  received  us  in  the 
drawing-room,  politely  introduced  us  to  the  members  of  his  family 
who  were  present,  and  soon  handed  us  cigars  and  invited  us  to 
adjourn  to  the  piazza  outside.  Here  a  full  statement  was  made, 
and  having  amply  explained  the  subject  and  asked  for  an  appro- 
priate executive  order  upon  the  Secretary,  I  awaited  the  decision. 
A  short  silence  ensued,  which  was  at  length  broken  by  Grant, 
substantially  in  these  words:  "General  Wistar,  have  you  any 
friends  in  Philadelphia  who  would  buy  that  cottage  across  the 
road?  I  have  no  use  for  it  myself,  and  am  very  anxious  to  dis- 
pose of  it."  Of  course  I  was  extremely  shocked  at  the  construc- 
tion naturally  inferable  from  this  frank  proposition,  and  did  not 
fail  to  take  leave  at  once  and  express  my  feelings  to  my  com- 
panion. But  the  Senator  insisted  that  the  remark  was  due  to 
nothing  worse  than  artless  simplicity;  that  not  understanding  or 
feeling  interested  in  the  legal  question  presented,  the  great  man's 
mind  had  wandered  to  the  subject  most  interesting  to  himself  at 
the  moment,  and  had  betrayed  his  thoughts  in  a  manner  as  artless 


JOURNEYING   THROUGH   COLORADO  145 

as  it  was  natural.  It  may  have  been  so;  I  do  not  presume  to 
make  any  comments,  but  surely  do  no  one  any  wrong  in  simply 
giving  the  facts  exactly  as  they  occurred.  Nothing  more  was 
ever  heard  from  Grant  on  the  boat  subject,  and  I  was  ultimately 
obliged,  with  the  aid  of  the  several  interests  affected,  to  get  an  Act 
of  Congress  passed,  declaratory  of  the  century  of  uniform  interpre- 
tation of  law  on  the  subject,  in  order  to  protect  the  canal  boats, 
and  the  boatmen  their  persecuted  lessees,  in  the  legal  rights 
solemnly  pronounced  in  their  favor  by  every  known  authority 
during  three  generations. 

In  the  year  1875,  the  city  of  Denver  having  become  an  impor- 
tant place,  I  felt  desirous  of  seeing  it  once  more  and  comparing  its 
condition  with  the  untrodden  wilderness  I  had  known  in  1849, 
and  the  wagon  camp  of  1859.  With  two  young  friends  I  there- 
fore visited  it,  by  way  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  in  Sep- 
tember, and  spent  a  month  in  travelling  to  the  various  points  of 
interest  in  what  had  now  become  the  State  of  Colorado.  Denver 
had  already  grown  to  be  a  large  city,  with  every  sign  of  perma- 
nence and  prosperity.  We  visited  Pueblo,  Colorado  Springs, 
where  the  Fontaine  qui  bouille  bursts  forth  from  the  mountains, 
and  many  other  prominent  places  in  southern  Colorado;  and 
afterwards  the  Parks,  Georgetown,  and  other  points  in  the  north. 
At  Georgetown  I  met  by  accident  in  the  street,  a  captain  (Craw- 
ford) of  my  old  regiment,  now  a  prosperous  civil  and  mechanical 
engineer,  who  kindly  devoted  himself  to  our  amusement,  and 
accompanied  us  to  various  points  of  interest.  From  the  summit 
of  the  range  back  of  Idaho  Springs,  some  considerable  distance 
above  the  timber-line,  I  took  a  small  pine  seedling  from  an  eleva- 
tion said  to  be  12,000  feet  above  the  sea,  planted  it  carefully  in  a 
cigar  box,  and  carried  it  home  to  my  summer  residence  at  Clay- 
mont  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  a  few  feet  above  tide  level. 
This  seedling  lived — but  failed  to  grow — for  a  period  of  about  ten 
years,  when,  recovering  from  the  shock  of  such  a  violent  removal, 
it  commenced  a  fairly  vigorous  growth,  and  is  now  ten  feet  high 
and  in  healthy  condition.  It  has  been  identified  by  my  distin- 
guished botanical  friend,  Josiah  Hoopes,  as  Pinus  Ponderosa 
Scopularia,  and  I  strongly  suspect  is  the  only  tree  in  America 


146  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

that  has  successfully  changed  its  altitude  in  the  neighborhood  of 
12,000  feet,  i.e.,  from  an  arctic  to  a  temperate  climate.9 

In  the  year  1877,  occurred  the  disastrous  labor  riots,  which 
threatened  property  in  many  localities  but  especially  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  ignorant  prejudices  of  the  rabble  became 
especially  excited  against  the  railroads,  whose  property  was 
destroyed  to  the  extent  of  several  million  dollars,  particularly  at 
Pittsburg  where  the  mob  defeated  the  militia,  and  for  some  days 
virtually  held  possession  of  the  city.  Governor  Hartranft  came 
to  Philadelphia  and  called  on  me  to  inquire  if  I  would  raise  an 
effective  force  in  the  cause  of  order.  I  expressed  a  confident 
opinion  that  it  would  be  quite  practicable  within  a  day  or  two  to 
raise  all  the  force  required,  officer  it  with  experienced  officers,  and 
suppress  the  riot  in  twenty-four  hours  after  arrival  at  Pitts- 
burg,  and  proposed  to  undertake  the  responsibility  myself,  if  he 
would  first  perform  his  own  part  of  the  duty.  "My  duty? 
What  do  you  mean?  I  am  ready  to  do  anything  in  reason." 
"Well,  Governor,  I  have  worked  hard  all  my  life,  and  have  ac- 
cumulated a  little  property,  not  much,  but  of  some  importance 
to  myself.  If  I  go  to  Pittsburg,  I  don't  propose  to  put  down 
the  riot  by  coaxing,  but  by  force;  and  as  matters  now  stand,  the 
relations  of  every  loafer  who  gets  himself  killed  would  be  bringing 
suits  against  me  for  the  rest  of  my  natural  life.  Do  your  own 
share.  Declare  martial  law,  so  as  to  protect  your  military 
agents,  and  I  will  take  a  sufficient  force  to  Pittsburg,  prohibit  all 
street  assemblages,  require  the  surrender  of  all  fire-arms,  fire  on 
every  unlawfully  assembled  squad,  and  after  a  reasonable  time, 
hang  on  the  spot,  every  man  taken  with  prohibited  arms  in  his 
possession.  Give  me  lawful  authority  and  a  safe  legal  status, 
and  I  will  guarantee  you  such  order  in  Pittsburg  that,  in  twenty- 
four  hours  after  my  arrival,  no  prayer-meeting  could  be  more 
orderly  and  law-abiding.  But  you  must  accept  the  fact  that  at 
the  stage  where  things  have  arrived,  order  will  cost  blood,  and 
blood  must  be  shed." 

9  This  tree  died  without  visible  cause,  in  1896,  having  attained  a  height  of 
twelve  feet  and  produced  seed. 


A   THIP  TO   ENGLAND   AND   THE   CONTINENT  147 

The  Governor  had  been  a  soldier  himself  and  knew  the  truth 
and  sense  of  all  this,  as  well  as  anyone,  but  he  had  since  fallen 
into  the  ways  of  politicians,  and  preferred  a  politician's  method. 
He  shrank  from  and  declined  the  responsibility  of  declaring 
martial  law,  which  of  course  would  suspend  the  civil  laws  and 
vest  plenary  power  in  the  military  commander,  and  I  declined  to 
undertake  the  job  with  my  hands  tied.  I  obtained  a  company 
of  U.  S.  regulars  under  a  smart  young  captain  and  had  it  located 
at  the  mining  properties  in  my  charge,  where  there  had  been  signs 
of  disorder,  but  where  all  now  remained  serene,  and  concluded  I 
could  stand  the  riot  as  long  as  the  State  authorities  could.  Ulti- 
mately the  thing  wore  itself  out  after  considerable  desultory  and 
useless  loss  of  life  and  the  destruction  of  a  vast  amount  of  property, 
a  large  part  of  which  was  due  to  the  feebleness,  and  political 
cowardice  of  the  persons  selected  by  popular  vote  to  maintain 
public  order  and  protect  private  rights. 

In  1878,  accompanied  only  by  my  wife  and  a  courier,  I  travelled 
extensively  in  Europe,  and  not  then  knowing  whether  another 
opportunity  would  present,  moved  rapidly  on  a  carefully  prepared 
schedule  so  as  to  get  at  least  a  superficial  view  of  most  of  the 
principal  countries  and  capitals.  We  traversed  Great  Britain 
from  Cornwall  to  Inverness,  gave  some  time  to  Ireland,  and 
visited  France,  Holland,  Prussia,  Baden,  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Austria,  Switzerland  and  northern  Italy,  devoting  five  months 
to  travelling,  and  getting  a  fine  confusion  of  ideas.  Neverthe- 
less, I  believe  it  is  not  on  the  whole  a  bad  plan  for  a  busy  person 
to  run  hastily  over  a  great  deal  of  ground  the  first  time,  and  then 
return  on  later  occasions  for  a  more  detailed  examination.  Of 
course,  however,  such  rapid  visits  would  be  useless  for  any  prac- 
tical purpose,  unless  preceded — as  in  our  case — by  carefully 
arranged  prior  studies  of  the  places  visited,  and  their  distin- 
guishing features. 

It  was,  I  think,  about  1879-80,  that  I  was  tempted  for  the 
first,  and  I  hope  the  last  time,  to  attempt  some  practical  benefit — 
by  political  means — for  the  community  in  which  I  lived.  As 
already  intimated,  I  had  hitherto  constantly  declined  not  merely 
the  several  offices  and  candidacies  proposed  to  me,  but  all  active 


148  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

participation  in  controversial  politics,  beyond  some  occasional 
writing  for  the  better  portion  of  the  periodical  press;  and,  enter- 
taining certain  unfavorable  prepossessions  respecting  the  favorite 
American  panacea  of  universal  or  'manhood'  suffrage,  could 
scarcely  have  asked  with  honesty  for  any  'gift  of  the  people'  or 
other  personal  advantage  based  on  the  stupid  foundation  of  mis- 
cellaneous voting.  I  have  perhaps  already  sufficiently  expressed 
my  contempt  for  the  fallacies  of  general  suffrage  in  municipal 
affairs,  i.e.,  the  judgment  of  the  ignorant  and  non-taxpaying 
classes  respecting  the  proper  expenditure  of  other  people's  money, 
and  concerning  the  qualifications  of  the  publicists,  judges,  engi- 
neers, and  other  professional  experts  required  for  the  proper 
transaction  of  the  public  business.  But  at  the  tune  referred  to, 
both  public  and  private  interests  seemed  so  seriously  menaced 
by  the  character  of  the  municipal  nominations  on  both  sides,  that 
I  was  induced  to  join  in  the  call  for,  and  attendance  at  a  public 
Democratic  meeting,  outside  of  and  hostile  to  the  regular  party 
organization.  Of  course  the  Republicans,  who  possessed  a  large 
and  reliable  majority  in  the  city,  might  abuse  their  control  of  the 
machine  by  demanding  the  party  vote  for  anyone  agreeable  or 
serviceable  to  the  wire  pullers,  without  regard  to  character  or 
qualifications.  But  it  was  intolerable  that  the  opposition 
should  desert  its  function  of  tempting  thoughtful  voters  from  the 
majority  by  well-chosen  nominations,  and  for  corrupt  consid- 
erations, put  up  persons  so  obnoxious  as  to  compel  even  the  most 
liberal  of  the  majority  to  adhere  to  their  own  bad  ticket. 

At  this  assembly  of  the  disaffected,  I  had  some  indignant  re- 
marks to  make,  which  were  well  received  and  supported,  and  the 
meeting  directed  the  formation  of  a  standing  executive  committee 
of  one  member  from  each  ward,  which  soon  became  locally  famous 
as  the  'Committee  of  Thirty-One,'  of  which  I  became  permanent 
Chairman.  Samuel  G.  King,  a  man  of  no  great  force  or  capacity, 
but  personally  honest,  and  the  best  Democrat  that  seemed  avail- 
able at  the  moment,  was  nominated  by  us  as  Democratic  and 
People's  candidate  for  Mayor,  and  after  a  hot  canvass  was 
actually  elected  by  a  large  majority,  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  entire  Republican  vote  of  the  city  having  either  voted  for 


VIEWS   ON   AND    FACTS  OF   POLITICS  149 

him,  or,  in  his  interest,  refrained  from  voting.  Most  of  the 
money  contributed  for  this  canvass,  and  much  of  the  laborious 
part  of  the  work,  came  from  persons  like  myself,  of  no  very  rigid 
party  connections,  and  free  from  personal  or  political  designs  of 
their  own.  A  large  amount  was  raised  and  deposited  in  a  Trust 
Company,  all  disbursements  were  made  by  check,  a  minute 
statement  of  account  was  rendered,  being  the  first  in  the  history 
of  Pennsylvania  politics  so  far  as  I  know,  and  a  considerable  un- 
used balance  was  ultimately  paid  over  to  the  Republican  'Com- 
mittee of  One  Hundred,'  organized  on  their  side,  for  a  somewhat 
similar  purpose. 

Some  optimist  who  still  retains  a  modicum  of  confidence  in 
popular  methods  might  perhaps  ask,  "Since  a  few  public-spirited 
persons  accomplished  a  substantial  benefit  for  the  community  on 
this  occasion,  why  cannot  such  always  be  done,  by  proper  asso- 
ciation of  the  young,  active  and  patriotic?"  Alas!  the  answer 
must  be,  that  success  on  this  occasion  was  only  rendered  possible 
by  the  most  barefaced  and  unusual  impudence  of  the  party  in 
power,  the  almost  universal  remonstrance  of  the  press,  and  the 
consequent  fostering  of  a  public  excitement  which,  though 
ephemeral,  as  such  spurts  always  are,  was  for  the  moment  strong 
enough  to  overcome  that  form  of  political  stupidity  known  as 
party  'consistency'  or  'fidelity!'  Such  revolts,  being  con- 
ducted by  persons  whose  time  and  capacity  are  otherwise  occu- 
pied, are  necessarily  spasmodic  and  therefore  unreliable  and  but 
partially  effective,  and  even  then  can  only  accomplish  beneficial 
results  when  a  worse  than  ordinary  blunder  has  been  committed 
by  the  vulgar  rogues  who  habitually  get  control  of  the  machine, 
and  under  republican  forms  and  nomenclature,  wield  a  despotic, 
corrupt  and  selfish  power  for  themselves. 

In  a  mere  business  career  pursued  for  private  advantage,  there 
can  be  little  worthy  of  commemoration,  and  perhaps  even  less  to 
interest  others.  In  our  country  all  are  obliged  to  watch  and 
labor  for  the  protection  of  what  they  possess,  or  the  support  and 
comfort  of  themselves  and  families,  and  presumably  all  do  their 
best  under  the  common  pressure  of  individual  interests  and  family 
affection.  I  may  therefore  be  excused  from  going  further  into 


150  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

such  matters,  or  referring  to  the  numerous  affairs  of  others, 
which,  much  against  my  own  wishes,  have  from  time  to  time 
fallen  under  my  management,  but  as  railroad  construction  and 
financial  readjustment  have  influenced  many  private  fortunes 
and  concerned  the  public  interest  in  many  localities,  I  am  in- 
duced to  give  a  brief  account  of  one  of  these,  in  which  circum- 
stances compelled  me  to  take  a  principal  part. 

The  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  composed  of  sev- 
eral short  lines  formerly  consolidated  by  Thomas  A.  Scott,  and 
of  extensions  and  connections  constructed  by  him,  was  in  1884, 
controlled  by  the  celebrated  New  York  millionaire,  Jay  Gould, 
who  not  long  prior  to  Scott's  death  had  purchased  his  interest, 
including  a  controlling  majority  of  the  stock.  It  embraced  1500 
miles  of  road,  extending  from  New  Orleans,  through  Shreeves- 
port,  Marshall,  Dallas  and  Fort  Worth  to  El  Paso,  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  together  with  intermediate  lines  and  branches  covering 
the  largest  and  best  parts  of  central  and  eastern  Texas.  It  was 
separately  mortgaged  in  three  divisions  of  nearly  similar  mileage, 
but  very  unequal  value,  which  may  be  called  for  brevity  the 
Eastern,  Middle  and  Western.  Of  these,  the  Western  failed 
to  earn  current  expenses,  the  Eastern  barely  earned  them,  and 
the  Middle  earned  its  expenses  and  a  small  surplus  in  excess  of 
the  annual  charges  on  its  own  mortgages.  In  the  year  named 
the  road  defaulted  on  all  its  mortgages,  and  offered  proposals  to 
its  creditors  which  were  very  distasteful  to  those  best  secured. 
These  were,  of  course,  the  holders  of  bonds  secured  on  the  Middle 
Division,  mostly  residents  of  Philadelphia,  who  were  invited  to 
submit  to  nearly  the  same  sacrifices  as  the  holders  of  securities 
of  the  non-earning  divisions.  Of  the  approximate  total  of  about 
thirty-four  million  dollars  of  mortgage  bonds,  about  fourteen 
millions  were  secured  on  the  Middle  Division,  and  mostly  held  in 
Philadelphia.  By  many  of  these  holders,  I  was  solicited  to  call 
a  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  bond  creditors  to  adopt  measures 
for  a  defensive  organization  to  protect  their  interests.  This  was 
done,  and  after  an  explanatory  speech,  a  Managing  Committee 
was  chosen,  of  which  I  was  elected  Chairman.  Amended  pro- 
posals for  reorganization  were  made  by  us,  and  resisted  by  the 


MANIPULATIONS   OF  RAILWAY   SECURITIES  151 

New  York  holders,  also  represented  by  their  respective  Com- 
mittee. Negotiation  proving  unsuccessful,  our  Committee  called 
for  the  deposit  with  it  of  all  the  securities  of  its  constituents  and 
supporters,  and  soon  controlled  by  actual  possession  nearly  all 
the  bonds  secured  on  the  Middle  Division.  The  several  oppo- 
sition committees  representing  the  bond-holders  of  the  land 
grant,  and  of  the  two  less  valuable  divisions  respectively,  in  addi- 
tion to  a  fifth  committee  of  stock-holders,  finding  their  several 
schemes  of  readjustment  at  the  expense  of  the  Middle  Division 
creditors,  thus  effectively  blocked,  then  proceeded  to  organize  a 
strong  bankers'  syndicate,  to  buy  out  the  latter,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  and  thus  remove  or  overcome  their  opposition.  Though 
our  Committee — which  throughout  the  contest  became  generally 
known  as  the  'Wistar  Committee' — held  possession  of  these 
bonds,  as  before  stated,  it  had,  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating 
transfers  of  ownership,  issued  negotiable  certificates  to  the  sev- 
eral depositors;  and  its  opponents,  once  possessed  of  these,  might 
with  reason  urge  upon  the  Court,  that  though  the  Wistar  Com- 
mittee held  the  bonds,  they  as  purchasers  of  the  beneficial  in- 
terest represented  by  the  certificates,  possessed  the  real  rights  of 
the  depositors,  including  the  very  important  right  to  name  the 
Judicial  Receiver,  and  thus  control  future  proceedings,  both 
legal  and  financial.  In  order  to  protect  the  large  body  of  our 
certificate  holders  who  had  not  sold  and  did  not  wish  to  sell,  it 
therefore  became  necessary  for  us  either  to  contest  the  possession 
of  the  certificates  by  rival  purchases  of  our  own,  or  to  be  crowded 
out  altogether  and  submit  to  having  our  Middle  Division — al- 
most the  only  real  security — administered  and  perhaps  plundered 
for  the  benefit  of  the  other  claimants. 

A  large  money-lending  firm  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
operating  in  both  cities  and  professing  to  influence  through  their 
customers  a  large  number  of  the  Middle  Division  bonds,  had 
been  minutely  consulted  and  kept  informed  by  us  from  the  be- 
ginning, with  the  clear  understanding  of  receiving  their  assistance 
and  support.  But  as  they  had  demanded  the  enormous  fee  of 
$100,000  to  act  as  our  depositary,  we  had  obtained  competitive 
bids  and  contracted  the  same  service  for  $12,000,  to  the  Farmers' 


152  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

Loan  and  Trust  Company  of  New  York,  the  lowest  bidder. 
This  disappointment,  though  so  plainly  in  the  interest  of  our 
depositors  alienated  the  firm  referred  to,  of  which  the  first  inti- 
mation that  reached  us,  was  their  earnest  and  ill-concealed  effort 
to  purchase  against  us,  on  behalf  of  the  hostile  New  York  Com- 
mittees.    Had  they  candidly  announced  to  us  their  resentment 
and  proposed  defection,  it  is  quite  possible  that  in  view  of  the 
value  of  their  adherence,  our  Committee  might  have  felt  con- 
strained to  yield  much,  perhaps  even  to  the  extent  of  admitting 
them  to  the  coveted  agency  on  some  terms  limiting  their  charges 
and  protecting  the  depositors  from  any  excessive  voracity.     But 
this  selfish  and  secret  desertion  to  the  enemy  left  to  us  only  the 
alternative  of  open  war,  with  the  weapons  chosen  by  themselves, 
or  ignominious  surrender  of  the  interests  confided  to  us.     Gen- 
eral John  Markoe  (the  same  whose  charge  with  A  and  D  Com- 
panies of  the  71st,  broke  and  captured  prisoners  from  the  8th 
Virginia  at  Ball's  Bluff),  William  D.   Winsor,   and  John    N. 
Hutchinson,  constituting  with  myself  a  majority  of  our  Com- 
mittee, promptly  chose  the  first;  and  with  this  view,  I  immediately 
repaired  to  New  York  where  I  first  sought  the  aid  of  Mr.  Gould,  a 
large  holder  of  bonds  as  well  as  stock,  who  had  already  assented 
to  our  plan  of  readjustment.    But,  unfortunately,  that  able  and 
experienced  financier  was  absent  on  his  yacht,  beyond  reach  of 
telegraph.    Arrangements  were   therefore   quickly  made   with 
several  prominent  New  York  Trust  Companies  to  borrow  large 
amounts  of  money,  on  the  deposit  of  the  bonds  as  fast  as  they 
might  be  purchased,  reinforced  with  what  private  collateral 
security  I  could  muster.    Half  a  million  were  purchased  the  first 
day,  over  a  million  on  the  second,  and  nearly  two  millions,  on 
the  third  day,  the  market  rates  rapidly  advancing,  when  our 
treacherous  opponents  deserted  their  new  allies  and  resold  their 
own  purchases  to  our  brokers,  having  thus  accomplished  the 
nimble  feat  of  betraying  both  their  old  and  new  associates  twice, 
in  the  compass  of  a  single  week!    Among  the  predatory  private 
'bankers'  that  infest  our  large  money  markets  I  am  told  that 
sort  of  thing  is  considered  a  smart  stroke  of  business,  though  even 
the  famous  Dalgetty  would  probably  have  found  a  more  appro- 
priate name  for  it. 


A   PERSONAL  TRIBUTE   TO  JAY   GOULD  153 

Mr.  Gould,  at  length  learning  of  the  conflict  through  the  news- 
papers, hurried  home  about  this  time  and  gave  us  his  powerful 
and  unwavering  support;  and  in  view  of  the  denunciation  often 
lavished  upon  him,  it  is  but  fair  to  add  that  through  the  weary 
years  of  contest  and  litigation  that  ensued,  he  proved  invariably 
staunch  and  true,  requiring  from  first  to  last  nothing  from  us  but 
a  fair  adherence  to  the  obligations  we  had  publicly  assumed.  In 
the  secure  possession  of  substantially  all  the  bonds  secured  on 
the  profitable  portion  of  the  property,  our  Committee  was  not 
long  in  obtaining  the  general  adherence  of  all  parties  to  its  plan 
of  readjustment,  after  which  we  were  enabled  to  resell  all  our 
purchases  at  a  moderate  loss  which,  by  terms  of  the  agreement, 
was  assessed  upon,  and  paid  by  those  whose  eccentricities  had 
occasioned  it.  A  long  though  formal  litigation  and  receivership 
ensued,  the  mortgages  were  all  foreclosed,  and  the  property  sold 
to  our  Committee.  But  as  all  parties  ultimately  came  to  our 
terms  and  surrendered  their  securities  to  us,  we  never  obtained  a 
confirmation  of  the  sale,  being  in  due  time  able  to  cancel  all  liens 
by  means  of  new  mortgages;  raise  a  cash  amount  of  several  mil- 
lion dollars,  chiefly  by  contributions  from  the  stockholders; 
restore  the  road  and  equipment  to  a  better  condition  than  it  had 
ever  before  known,  and  hand  over  the  property  sound  and  solvent 
to  its  stockholders,  who,  notwithstanding  their  vigorous,  if  not 
bitter  original  opposition,  have  ever  since  done  me  the  honor — 
much  against  my  preferences — of  retaining  me  in  the  Board  of 
Direction. 

As  by  these  rather  irregular  efforts  of  memory,  I  recall  so  many 
circumstances  from  the  obscure  and  half-forgotten  past,  I  must 
not  omit  some  things  not  yet  entirely  passed,  and  especially  the 
pleasure  and  improvement  I  have  for  many  years  derived  from  my 
dearly-prized  connection  with  the  Biological  Club.  This  was — 
and  I  am  glad  to  say,  still  is — a  social  organization  of  limited  num- 
ber, meeting  at  a  fortnightly  dinner  for  purely  social  intercourse 
and  conversation,  under  the  widest  conditions  of  mutual  confi- 
dence and  freedom.  Entire  unanimity  has  always  been  required 
for  every  affirmative  act,  and  a  deliberate  and  judicious  care 
been  invariably  exerted  to  maintain  the  membership,  without 


154  INCIDENTS   AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

regard  to  wealth  or  display,  from  persons  unanimously  judged 
eminent  in  some  intellectual  pursuit,  mainly  those  connected 
with  Natural  History  or  Physical  Science.  Professor  Joseph 
Leidy,  universally  beloved  for  his  personal  qualities,  and  famous 
among  the  learned  of  all  lands  for  the  unsurpassed  value  of  his 
researches,  was  the  President  for  over  thirty  years,  till  his  death 
in  1891.  The  other  members  have  comprised  men  distinguished 
in  nearly  every  branch  of  knowledge,  and  few  scientific  ques- 
tions could  be  propounded  in  the  Club  without  finding  at  least 
one  expert  of  authority,  capable  of  giving  the  best  elucidation  as 
yet  reached  by  modern  learning.  It  was  not  long  after  the  war 
that  I  was  admitted  to  this  Association,  and  I  have  never  ceased 
to  derive  from  it  a  solid  enjoyment  surpassed  by  no  other  connec- 
tion of  the  kind.  A  list  of  the  members,  past  and  present, 
would  include  many  of  those  most  eminent  in  their  day  in  all  the 
learned  institutions  of  the  city,  and  some  whose  distinction  has 
extended  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  their  native  land. 

I  passed  a  part  of  the  winter  of  1883-84  in  the  Bermuda 
Islands,  which  was  not  unprofitably  occupied  in  observing  the 
physical  and  geological,  and  even  the  political  peculiarities  of 
that  interesting  group,  respecting  each  of  which  topics  I  had 
afterwards  something  to  remark  in  the  periodical  press.  I  had 
even  commenced  the  preparation  of  a  geological  section  and 
physical  history  of  the  Islands  to  read  before  the  Academy,  but 
finding  the  thoughts  and  studies  of  Professor  Heilprin  bent  on 
the  same  interesting  subjects,  yielded  the  matter  to  him,  on  his 
undertaking  to  visit,  investigate,  and  write,  himself.  That  prom- 
ise he  has  handsomely  fulfilled  by  his  excellent  work  entitled  "The 
Bermuda  Islands:  A  Contribution  to  the  Physical  History  and 
Zoology  of  the  Somer's  Archipelago,  with  an  Examination  of  the 
Structure  of  Coral  Reefs."  Philadelphia,  1889.  That  excellent 
performance  nevertheless  still  leaves  for  a  future  student  the 
interesting  subject  of  the  political  organization,  public  revenue,  and 
municipal  administration  of  the  colony  under  a  suffrage,  limited 
only  by  a  moderate  property  qualification.  The  peculiar  interest 
of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  although  sixty  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  of  14,650  are  colored,  the  number  of  legal  voters  is 


TRIPS  TO  EUROPE  AND  ALASKA  155 

reduced  by  a  sixty-pound  freehold  qualification,  to  864,  or  less 
than  six  per  cent  of  the  whole,  thus  ensuring  in  fact,  as  might  have 
been  antecedently  inferred,  honest,  intelligent  and  cheap  adminis- 
tration, coupled  with  the  entire  content  of  the  governed.  How  to 
extend  to  larger  populations  some  such  system,  combining  the 
assured  liberty  of  the  individual  and  his  unchecked  freedom  to 
accumulate  and  rise  if  he  can,  with  the  intelligence  and  integrity 
thus  far  only  to  be  found  in  a  small  portion  of  the  mass,  is  the 
great  future  problem  for  Anglo-Saxon  statesmen  on  both  sides  the 
ocean. 

In  company  with  my  wife  and  some  younger  members  of  the 
family,  I  spent  part  of  the  year  1888  in  European  travelling,  which 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  information  on  several 
interesting  subjects.  Among  these  was  the  most  approved  form 
and  arrangement  of  modern  Zoological  Gardens  and  Museums  of 
Natural  History,  in  both  of  which  I  had  become  particularly 
interested  as  a  Director  in  the  Philadelphia  Zoological  Society, 
and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Building  Fund  of 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  of  which  Insti- 
tution I  have  at  this  writing  just  been  elected  President.  Another 
subject  of  examination  was  the  organization  and  appliances  for 
municipal  engineering  and  administration;  and  a  third  was  the 
organization,  discipline,  instruction,  mobilization  and  supply  of 
great  modern  armies,  especially  those  of  England,  Germany  and 
France.  A  large  part  of  the  time  not  thus  occupied,  was  devoted 
to  travel  in  the  Alpine  regions  of  Austria,  Switzerland  and  Italy, 
for  which  purpose  a  four-horse  vehicle  was  obtained  and  suitably 
provided,  in  which  we  crossed  most  of  the  great  passes  that  I  had 
not  previously  visited,  including  the  Stelvio,  Maloja,  Julier,  Furka, 
Spliigen  and  St.  Gothard.  These,  with  those  visited  in  1878,  give 
one  a  fairly  extensive  knowledge  of  the  scenery,  character  and  his- 
tory of  the  principal  Alpine  passes. 

During  the  summer  of  1890  we  visited,  in  a  large  party,  with  all 
the  comfortable  appliances  of  modern  travel,  the  famous  glaciers 
of  Alaska,  touching  at  several  points  ground  traversed  by  me 
forty  years  before,  in  what  had  then  been  far  in  the  heart  of  an 
unknown  and  primeval  wilderness.  Our  journey  was  by  the 


156  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

Canadian  Pacific  to  Vancouver,  thence  by  steamer  to  Victoria  and 
the  various  posts  in  Alaska,  back  to  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  thence 
to  Portland  and  home  through  the  Yellowstone  Park,  by  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway.  The  contrast  between  then  and  now, 
between  the  exhilarating  and  noble  freedom  of  the  primitive  wil- 
derness, and  the  rather  vulgar  triumphs  of  recent  civilization,  were 
intensely  interesting  to  me;  but  it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  convey 
the  feeling  to  another.  One's  recollections  of  the  persons  and 
conditions  of  the  strange  and  distant  past,  tinged  with  a  melan- 
choly realism  by  the  inevitable  reflection,  that  the  first  are  gone 
forever  and  the  last  changed  beyond  recognition,  can  hardly  be 
realized  or  even  understood  by  another  mind,  however  sympa- 
thetic. As  our  noisy  train  rushed  headlong  through  the  echoing 
chasms  of  the  mountains,  the  rocky  pinnacles  and  snow-clad  sum- 
mits still  stood  piercing  the  sky,  the  same  as  for  ages  past  and  per- 
haps for  cycles  yet  to  come,  but  far  away  behind  them  and  beyond 
ken  of  the  holiday  tourist,  how  faithfully  I  remembered  the  steep 
and  narrow  canons  with  their  foaming  torrents  and  roaring  cas- 
cades, up  which  the  lonely  trapper  once  led  his  pack-horses,  sur- 
rounded by  privation  and  danger  and  separated  by  a  year's  travel 
or  more,  from  the  then  distant  invasion  of  the  settler.  Rolling 
over  and  down  the  wild  pass  of  the  Wapta — once  the  home  of  the 
bloody  Surcees  and  Blackfeet — following  down  the  one  almost  con- 
tinuous cataract  of  that  rushing  stream,  passing  by  the  sunny 
Shuswaps,  and  down  the  fertile  and  now  well-settled  bottoms  of 
the  Thompson,  I  strove  in  vain  to  identify  the  once  lonely  spot, 
where  in  the  shadows  of  the  great  range,  and  in  mortal  fear  of  its 
inhabitants,  we  had  swum  that  noble  river,  pushing  before  us  the 
frail  and  hastily-made  raft  which,  carrying  all  our  worldly  effects 
and  dragging  us  with  it  far  down  the  swirling  current,  was  at  last 
safely  landed  several  miles  below  the  starting-point. 

The  long  and  awful  canon  of  the  lower  Frazer,  then  for  the 
most  part  only  accessible  to  the  solitary  eagle,  now  carried  clinging 
to  its  mountain  walls,  a  wagon-road  on  one  side  and  a  railroad  on 
the  other.  The  primitive  H.  B.  stockade  of  Victoria,  with  the 
Indian  canoes  hauled  up  on  its  rocky  beach,  now  had  become  a 
great  city,  full  of  splendid  buildings,  crowded  by  fashionable 


REVISITING   THE   WESTERN  RANGES  157 

residents,  infested  with  millionaires,  and  girt  with  long  lines  of  tall 
ships  and  stately  steamers.  The  half-dozen  trading  cabins  strung 
along  between  the  falls  of  the  Willamette  and  the  H.  B.  farm  and 
stockade  at  Multnomah  Island,  had  grown  to  a  town  of  40,000 
people,  with  electric  lights  and  railways,  cable  roads  and  miles  of 
tall  and  solid  wharves  and  buildings.  On  Puget  Sound,  the  lonely 
fishing  village,  where  the  kindly  old  Seattle  strove  to  shelter 
his  tribe  from  the  fierce  Hydahs  and  Queen  Charlotte  Islanders, 
and  win  the  friendship  of  the  white  man,  had  totally  disappeared; 
and  on  its  metamorphosed  site,  extending  far  back  upon  the  hills, 
had  risen  a  city  as  modern-looking  as  New  York,  its  long  wharves 
lined  with  ships  and  steamers,  and  its  steep  streets  crowded  with 
gaunt  and  sharp-eyed  Yankees,  perpetually  haggling— even  in  the 
sight  and  presence  of  the  glorious  summit  of  Rainier — over  the 
mean  insignificance  of  their  corner  lots. 

Strange  as  it  all  was,  the  mighty  transformation  was  anything 
but  exhilarating  to  the  spirits.  Not  one  inhabitant  could  I  find 
that  had  even  seen  the  place,  till  twenty  years  or  more  after  I  had 
left  it.  In  vain  I  inquired  for  some  stray  survivor  of  the  friendly 
natives  with  whom  I  might  have  mustered  enough  of  their  once 
well-known  language,  to  have  learned  the  fate  of  the  individuals 
I  remembered.  All,  all  were  gone,  mostly  exterminated  by  the 
white  man's  contact,  and  the  wretched  remnant  herded  up  on 
some  distant  inland  reservation,  to  be  robbed  and  starved  at 
leisure  by  the  statesmen  and  politicians  of  our  great  and  glorious 
(?)  Republic.  Fort  Vancouver  had  become  a  great  United  States 
military  post,  where  my  old  army  friend,  General  Gibbon  was  in 
command.  Fort  Steilacome  had  long  been  abandoned  by  its 
former  owners;  the  great  Multnomah  grain  farm  was  inhabited 
by  miscellaneous  American  settlers,  and  even  at  the  British  town 
of  Victoria,  when  I  inquired  for  the  H.  B.  representatives,  in 
hopes  of  finding  some  well-remembered  old  mountain  chief,  I  was 
introduced  to  a  lot  of  sleek  and  dapper  young  London  clerks,  sell- 
ing their  haberdashery  over  counters  like  any  other  shopkeepers! 
Far,  far  toward  the  Arctic,  must  one  now  go  who  seeks  yet  to  find 
the  H.  B.  in  its  glory,  and  its  bold  chiefs  and  hardy  servants 
engaged  as  in  the  days  of  yore.  As  for  finding  those  grim  relics  of 


158  INCIDENTS  AND   REFLECTIONS   IN   CONCLUSION 

mountain  chivalry  in  our  sleek  and  prosperous  modern  towns — as 
well  look  for  an  old  man-of-war's  man  in  a  canal  boat;  a  dashing 
cavalry  leader  in  the  village  police;  a  Highland  chieftain  in  the 
slums  of  Glasgow. 

But  though  one  may  at  times  be  tempted  to  indulge  in  sober 
reflections,  in  coming  thus  upon  unforeseen  transformations  and 
suddenly  realizing  the  complete  disappearance  of  old  customs  and 
old  friends,  it  is  but  folly  for  any  of  us  deliberately  to  regret  the 
past.  Man  still  advances,  still  multiplies,  still  increases  his  knowl- 
edge and  extends  his  dominion  over  Nature.  Spite  of  all  his 
follies,  ignorance  and  prejudices — obstinately  perpetuated  through 
the  ages  by  the  most  venerable  and  powerful  institutions  he  has 
at  any  period  been  able  to  construct — the  race  does  constantly, 
notwithstanding  perpetual  jolts  and  interruptions,  move  forward 
to  a  broader  knowledge  and  a  wiser  life.  It  is  not  by  the  memories 
of  any  individual,  or  the  misleading  comparison  of  year  with  year, 
but  by  that  of  generation  with  generation  or  century  with  century, 
that  we  are  to  comprehend  this  positive  and  as  yet  unchanging 
fact. 

When — if  ever — such  progress  shall  be  visibly  and  permanently 
checked;  when  all  lands  shall  be  filled  with  a  hungry  and  hopeless 
population;  when  the  fuel  and  minerals  and  fertility  accumulated 
for  us  through  innumerable  ages  shall  be  at  last  exhausted;  when 
the  sun's  fructifying  heat  shall  wane,  and  the  conditions  of  Nature 
on  which  we  now  implicitly  rely,  shall  have  been  modified  or 
impaired,  then,  and  not  till  then,  may  our  remote  successors  begin 
to  fear  a  stationary  or  retrograde  condition,  and  may  with  reason 
look  back  with  regret  to  the  better  days  that  will  have  passed  for 
them. 

But  surely  such  regret  would  be  folly  for  us  who  daily  behold 
our  ever-widening  control  over  the  riches  of  Nature,  bringing 
results  which  tend  to  increase  the  happiness  of  our  lot  and  to  aug- 
ment the  multitudes  destined  to  enjoy  it.  No!  there  is  nothing 
even  in  our  declining  years  and  waning  powers  that  should  tempt  us 
to  prefer  the  past.  Our  remote  future  as  individuals  may  not  yet 
have  been  satisfactorily  revealed  to  us,  but  the  earthly  destiny  of 
our  race  as  a  whole,  is  most  assuredly  marked  out  by  its  constant 


A   LONG   LOOK  AHEAD  159 

and  marvelous  progress  in  the  past.  As  I  now  lay  down  the  pen, 
probably  not  to  be  resumed,  I  feel  more  than  ever  confident,  that 
while  much  still  remains  to  be  gained  in  respect  of  the  social  and 
political  welfare  of  our  kind,  it  is  sure  to  come  as  other  knowledge 
and  improvement  have  come;  and  our  distant  posterity  will  one 
day  enjoy  conditions  as  superior  to  ours,  as  these  surpass  the  lot 
of  our  savage  progenitors  of  the  remote  geologic  eras  of  the  past. 


The  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology 

Woodland  Avenue  and  36th  Street,  Philadelphia 


APPENDIX 

THE  WISTAR  INSTITUTE  OF  ANATOMY  AND  BIOLOGY1 
MILTON  J.  GREENMAN 

The  name  of  Isaac  J.  Wistar  will  ever  be  associated  with  the  progress 
of  American  science,  not  only  by  reason  of  his  princely  gift  to  anatomy, 
but  also  on  account  of  his  personal  interest  in  the  various  scientific 
organizations  with  which,  during  the  later  years  of  his  life,  he  was 
connected.  His  autobiography  touches  some  of  the  details  of  his  varied 
activities  and  inadvertently  develops  some  of  the  personal  qualities 
which  were  so  admirable.  The  autobiography,  however,  does  not  deal 
with  his  interest  in  the  institution  to  which  he  gave  so  liberally  of  his 
time  and  fortune. 

Those  who  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  knowing  General  Wistar  inti- 
mately loved  him  for  his  force,  his  independence,  his  deep  human 
sympathies  and  the  qualities  which  are  combined  in  the  true  friend. 

Isaac  Jones  Wistar  was  born  at  726  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia,  No- 
vember 14,  1827. 

In  1839  he  was  sent  to  the  Friends'  Boarding  School  at  Westtown, 
in  1841  he  was  at  the  Friends'  Select  School  in  Philadelphia  and  in 
1842  at  Haverford  School,  now  Haverford  College. 

In  1844  he  was  employed  in  a  dry  goods  store  and  in  1845-1846  worked 
on  a  farm  in  Montgomery  County  and  on  a  canal  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  1847  he  worked  for  his  father  on  a  farm  and  in  1848  for  a  map 
publisher  in  Philadelphia. 

In  1849  he  started  for  California  and  after  a  varied  career  in  the  far 
West  as  hunter,  miner  and  sailor  began  the  study  of  law  in  San  Francisco 
in  1853. 

In  1854  he  began  the  practice  of  law  in  San  Francisco. 

He  left  for  the  East  in  1857. 

In  1858  he  opened  a  law  office  in  Philadelphia  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  the  same  year. 

In  1860  he  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

1  This  sketch  of  the  Wistar  Institute  was  prepared  as  an  Appendix  to  the 
Autobiography  of  General  Wistar  at  the  request  of  the  Publication  Committee. 

161 


162  APPENDIX 

He  joined  the  Union  army  and  at  the  request  of  Colonel  Baker 
raised  the  71st  (California)  regiment  in  1861. 

He  married  Sarah  Toland  in  1862. 

He  resigned  from  the  army  in  1864  and  was  elected  President  of  the 
Union  Canal  Company  in  1865  and  later  President  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Canal  Company  in  1867.  He  resigned  as  President  of  this  Company 
in  1903. 

He  was  a  director  of  the  Philadelphia  Zoological  Society  from  1891 
to  1894.  President  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia, 
1891  to  1895.  President  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  1901 
to  1903. 

He  died  at  Claymont,  Del,  September  3,  1905. 

During  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life  he  was  interested  in  and  more 
or  less  actively  engaged  in  placing  upon  a  firm  financial  basis  the  insti- 
tution bearing  his  family  name:  The  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy 
and  Biology. 

This  Institute  owes  its  origin  in  1808  to  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  (1761- 
1818),  great  uncle  of  Gen.  Isaac  J.  Wistar  who,  eighty-five  years  later, 
gave  to  anatomical  science  this  most  generous  endowment  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  one  of  America's  first  and  most  distinguished  anatomists. 

Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  a  Philadelphian  by  birth,  was  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  and  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  Edinburgh  in  1786,  where  he  had  been  closely  associated  with  Doctor 
Cullen  and  Dr.  Charles  Stewart.  While  in  Edinburgh,  he  was  honored 
by  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Royal  Medical  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh for  two  successive  years,  and  in  consequence  of  his  broad  inter- 
est in  comparative  anatomy  he  was  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Edinburgh  "Society  for  the  Further  Investigation  of  Natural  History." 

During  Doctor  Wistar's  four  years'  study  abroad,  he  came  under 
the  influence  of  the  celebrated  teachers  of  anatomy  in  both  Edinburgh 
and  London.  Here  he  became  familiar  with  those  methods  of  impart- 
ing anatomical  knowledge  which  were  employed  by  the  Hunters  and 
Monroes,  and  on  his  return  began  his  teaching  in  1792  as  Adjunct 
Professor  of  Anatomy  with  Dr.  William  Shippen  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Doctor  Wistar  was  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine; 
his  attractive  personality  together  with  his  skill  brought  him  a  large 
practice.  His  hospitality,  his  sympathy,  the  modest  firmness  with 
which  he  held  to  his  own  conclusions  and  the  scrupulous  integrity 
with  which  he  performed  his  duty  won  for  him  many  friends.  We 


APPENDIX  163 

have  left  to  us  still  in  Philadelphia  the  "Wistar  Party,"  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  diffusion  of  "true  and  elegant,  yet  simple  and  unambitious 
hospitality,"  a  derivation  of  Doctor  Wistar's  Sunday  evening  parties. 

In  1808,  following  the  death  of  Doctor  Shippen,  Wistar  was  elected 
to  the  Professorship  of  Anatomy  in  the  medical  school  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  His  work  as  a  student  in  the  Edinburgh  and 
London  schools  and  his  desire  to  perfect  his  anatomical  demonstrations 
while  Adjunct  Professor,  had  led  him  to  a  keen  appreciation  of  John 
Hunter's  methods  and  gradually,  during  the  years  which  followed,  he 
accumulated  an  extensive  series  of  dissections  and  preparations  useful 
in  the  teaching  of  Anatomy. 

Doctor  Wistar's  benevolence  and  charity  and  his  active  interest  in 
the  promotion  of  his  science  brought  him  into  numerous  positions  of 
importance. 

In  1787  he  was  appointed  physician  to  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary. 
In  1789  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia, a  rival  institution  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
accepted  this  position  largely  to  bring  about  the  union  of  the  two 
institutions,  an  act  which  was  finally  consummated.  In  1793  he  was 
elected  physician  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  a  position  which  he 
resigned  in  1810  much  to  the  regret  of  the  managers  of  the  hospital. 
In  1794  he  was  appointed  censor  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  held  until  his  death.  He  was  President  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1818. 

Doctor  Wistar  was  a  man  of  classical  learning  and  well  versed  in 
the  science  of  botany,  of  mineralogy  and  of  chemistry,  but  his  active 
interests  were  in  anatomy.  His  work  as  a  teacher  and  as  an  investi- 
gator did  much  to  bring  the  science  of  anatomy  to  the  high  standard 
which  it  enjoyed  in  the  early  days  of  Pennsylvania's  Medical  School. 
He  wrote  the  first  American  system  of  Human  Anatomy,  an  excellent 
work  which  passed  through  several  editions.  His  name  is  inseparably 
connected  with  the  spheno-turbinal  bones,  the  development  of  which 
was  more  completely  described  by  him  (Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  1818). 
The  original  drawings  of  these  bones,  made  for  publication,  are  now 
preserved  at  the  Wistar  Institute,  as  are  many  of  his  dissections  and 
other  objects  relating  to  his  work. 

Doctor  Wistar's  stimulating  influence  in  his  chosen  field  of  science 
brought  large  classes  to  his  lectures  and  demonstrations. 

The  anatomical  preparations  which  Doctor  Wistar  accumulated  dur- 
ing his  active  career  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  as  Adjunct 


164  APPENDIX 

Professor  of  Anatomy  from  1792  till  1808  and  as  Professor  of  Anatomy 
from  1808  till  1818,  were  used  by  him  in  his  lectures  and  demonstrations. 

Following  his  death,  in  1818,  this  collection  was  presented  by  his 
widow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Mifflin  Wistar,  to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
where  through  the  activities  and  generosity  of  succeeding  incumbents 
of  the  Chair  of  Anatomy,  Physick,  Horner  and  Leidy,  the  collection 
was  increased  in  extent  and  value.  In  1892  the  so-called  Wistar  or 
Wistar  and  Horner  Museum  was  incorporated  under  a  new  name  as 
The  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology.  A  new  building  and 
endowment  for  maintenance  were  provided  by  General  Isaac  J.  Wistar. 

The  immediate  stimulus  for  such  a  step  came  from  the  fact  that  the 
Wistar  Museum,  then  used  chiefly  by  Prof.  Joseph  Leidy  in  his  lec- 
tures on  anatomy,  was  without  that  continuous  financial  support  which 
was  needed  to  increase  the  collection  and  to  replace  and  maintain  the 
specimens  it  contained. 

Dr.  James  Tyson,  Dean  of  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  at  the  time,  interested  a  number  of  men  in  the  support 
of  this  Museum,  among  them  was  General  Wistar,  who  took  more  than 
ordinary  interest  in  the  Museum  with  the  result  that  a  trust  fund  of 
about  $20,000  was  created  on  July  20,  1891,  by  General  Wistar  for  the 
support  of  the  Museum. 

General  Wistar  had  always  been  interested  in  natural  history.  This 
inclination  had  led  him  to  take  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia  of  which  he  was  at  this  time 
President. 

Having  vested  $20,000  in  a  trust  fund  for  the  care  of  the  Wistar 
Museum,  his  interest  in  this  museum,  through  the  influence  of  Dr. 
William  Pepper,  no  doubt,  and  from  the  fact  that  Caspar  Wistar  was 
his  great  uncle,  became  more  intense  and  he  decided  to  do  something 
further.  Accordingly,  in  less  than  a  year  from  the  date  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  original  trust,  The  Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology 
was  incorporated,  April,  1892. 

The  Board  of  Managers  for  the  first  year  was  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing members: 

WILLIAM  PEPPER  HENRY  C.  McCooK 

ISAAC  J.  WISTAR  WILLIAM  SELLERS 

S.  WEIR  MITCHELL  ARTHUR  V.  MEIGS 

SAMUEL  DICKSON  JOHN  MARKOE 

CHARLES  C.  HARRISON 


APPENDIX  165 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania  presented  a  plot  of  ground  on  36th 
Street  between  Woodland  Avenue  and  Spruce  Street  and  General  Wistar 
erected  thereon  a  fireproof  museum  building  at  a  cost  of  $125,000. 
The  University  of  Pennsylvania  then  presented  the  original  Wistar 
Museum  and  on  May  21,  1894,  the  new  Institute  was  formally  opened. 

While  inseparably  connected  with  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  Institute  was  organized  as  an  independent  institution  under  a 
charter  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.  Its  organization 
requires  that  the  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  shall 
annually  elect  its  board  of  nine  managers,  that  one  of  these  managers 
shall  be  the  eldest  and  nearest  male  lineal  heir  of  Caspar  Wistar  (1801- 
1867),  father  of  the  donor,  Gen.  Isaac  J.  Wistar,  and  that  two  of  the 
said  board  shall  be  representatives  from  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia. 

The  purposes  of  the  Institute  are  stated  in  the  Trust  Deed  of  October 
1,  1898  as  follows: 

The  main  and  principal  object  of  the  Institute  shall  be  the  safe 
preservation,  intelligent  arrangement,  and  free  exhibition  of  the  Ana- 
tomical Museum  originally  commenced  by  Prof.  Caspar  Wistar  and 
now  in  possession  of  the  said  Wistar  Institute,  and  its  increase  and 
extension  to  a  complete  collection  of  all  objects  and  preparations  use- 
ful in  the  higher  and  advanced  study  of  Biology,  of  Human,  Compara- 
tive and  Pathological  Anatomy,  and  of  the  historical  development  of 
the  present  organs  and  structure  of  Man,  and  it  shall  not  be  used  to 
replace,  modify  or  interfere  with  such  elementary  instruction  on  those 
or  any  other  subjects  as  is  or  may  be  given  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania or  other  schools  and  colleges,  but  in  order  further  to  promote 
such  advanced  researches  and  studies,  the  Board  of  Managers  may, 
when  consistent  with  the  financial  resources  of  the  Institute,  establish 
systems  of  lectures  on  the  above-named  subjects  for  the  instruction 
of  postgraduate  and  advanced  students  only,  especially  as  illustrated 
by  Museum  preparations,  to  be  delivered  on  its  premises  by  its  Direc- 
tor, Fellows  and  others,  and  may  also,  when  deemed  by  them  expedient, 
institute  and  conduct  a  publication,  periodical  or  otherwise,  of  its 
lectures,  catalogues,  scientific  proceedings  and  contributions,  and  may 
originate  any  other  work  for  the  research  in,  or  increase  of  original 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  said  several  subjects  and  those  kindred  to 
them,  at  the  same  time  devising  and  enforcing  a  competent  and  strict 
censorship  of  the  material  of  such  publications,  and  the  scope  and 
scientific  value  of  such  work.  But  since  owing  to  the  ample  facilities 
already  supplied  from  various  sources  for  the  publication  by  scientific 
men  of  their  observations  and  discoveries,  such  publications  are  apt 
to  be  considerably  in  advance  of  proved  facts  and  well  established 
knowledge,  therefore  all  work  and  expenditure  of  the  Institute  for 


166  APPENDIX 

publishing  purposes  shall  always  be  secondary  and  entirely  subordinate 
to  the  principal  object  which  is  and  shall  always  continue  to  be  to 
accumulate  the  most  complete  and  perfectly  displayed  Anatomical 
Museum  that  can  be  devised,  keeping  the  same  always  fully  up  to  the 
latest  and  best  methods  of  preparation  and  exhibition.  While  the 
Museum  shall,  under  suitable  regulations,  be  free  for  the  inspection  of 
the  public,  and  especially  of  all  teachers  and  students,  the  object  of 
the  laboratories  and  workrooms  and  of  any  lectures  or  instructions 
to  be  given  at  the  Institute  shall  be  for  the  improvement  and  research 
of  postgraduate  or  advanced  students  and  of  searchers  after  new  and 
original  knowledge,  and  neither  the  Institute,  its  premises  or  property 
shall  be  used  to  replace  or  supersede  such  elementary  instruction  of 
undergraduate  students  as  now  does,  or  hereafter  may  fairly  pertain 
to  the  ordinary  or  necessary  curriculum  of  the  University. 

The  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  medical  schools  in  this  country 
from  the  time  of  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  to  that  of  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy,  estab- 
lished as  many  were  for  pecuniary  profits,  tended  to  a  lowering  of  the 
standards  of  admission.  Anatomy  during  this  period  remained  sub- 
servient to  surgery,  being  frequently  utilized  as  the  stepping  stone  to 
the  Chair  of  Surgery.  Its  preservation  and  advancement  as  a  science 
was  accomplished  chiefly  by  men  active  in  comparative  anatomy  rather 
than  by  the  professors  of  anatomy  in  medical  schools. 

At  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  Wistar  Institute,  men  like  Harri- 
son Allen,  Cope,  Leidy,  Marsh  and  Ryder  were  actively  working  in 
the  broader  field  of  comparative  anatomy  and  were  rapidly  regaining 
for  anatomy  a  position  as  an  independent  discipline. 

The  influence  of  these  men,  all  personal  friends  of  General  Wistar, 
is  strongly  reflected  in  the  statement  of  the  purposes  of  the  Institute. 

General  Wistar  appreciated  the  value  of  comparative  morphology 
in  the  development  of  anatomy,  the  necessity  of  abundance  of  material, 
ample  laboratory  facilities  and  above  all,  the  stimulus  for  capable 
young  men  to  enter  upon  this  field  of  science. 

Dr.  Harrison  Allen,  for  many  years  had  advocated  the  introduction 
of  comparative  anatomy  and  comparative  pathology  into  the  medical 
curriculum.  He  was  Professor  of  Medical  Zoology  and  Comparative 
Anatomy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  from  1865  to  1879  and 
did  much  to  advance  the  knowledge  of  the  subject.  It  was  largely 
through  his  influence  that  General  Wistar  fixed  the  purposes  of  the 
Wistar  Institute  upon  that  broad  scientific  basis  and  limited  its  activ- 
ities to  advanced  work  in  anatomy  and  allied  subjects. 

The  formal  opening  of  the  Wistar  Institute  occurred  on  May  21, 
1894.  The  principal  addresses  were  made  by  Dr.  William  Pepper, 


APPENDIX  167 

Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Dr.  William  Osier,  Professor 
of  Medicine  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  Dr.  Harrison  Allen, 
the  first  Director  of  the  Institute. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Wistar  Museum  was  the  first  anatomical 
musum  and  the  Wistar  Institute  is  the  first  anatomical  research  insti- 
tution to  be  established  in  this  country. 

Provost  Pepper,  with  characteristic  enthusiasm  in  his  opening  address 
predicted  a  great  work  for  this  unique  Institute  and  called  attention 
to  the  advantage  of  concentration  and  liberal  cooperation  of  scientific 
institutes  even  when  financial  and  organic  integrity  are  scrupulously 
maintained.  Undoubtedly  Pepper,  with  his  generous  breadth  of  view 
had  scented  the  development  which  was  about  to  take  place  in  American 
anatomy  and  felt  that  an  institute,  whose  resources  were  to  aid  in  this 
development,  would  very  soon  settle  into  its  proper  field  of  usefulness, 
do  credit  to  its  founders  and  form  one  of  the  units  in  his  ideal  university 
which  should  be  an  aggregation  of  institutes  and  agencies  more  or  less 
independently  governed,  for  the  promotion  of  research  and  the  acquisi- 
tion and  diffusion  of  knowledge. 

Dr.  Harrison  Allen,  the  first  Director  of  the  Institute  was  in  active 
medical  practice,  but  notwithstanding  this  fact,  Doctor  Allen  for  many 
years  had  been  an  enthusiastic  investigator  in  comparative  anatomy, 
the  cultivation  of  which  science  he  considered  inseparably  connected 
with  that  of  medicine.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  study  of  anatomy 
in  relation  to  its  ancient  mistress  medicine,  should  be  identical  with 
its  study  in  relation  to  a  scheme  of  evolution  of  organic  forms. 

Doctor  Allen  had  for  years  maintained  most  advanced  views  as  to 
the  importance  of  scientific  anatomy  as  compared  with  so-called  prac- 
tical anatomy  and  although  he  resigned  as  Director  of  the  Wistar 
Institute  on  July  2,  of  the  same  year  (1894),  he  nevertheless  left  his 
impression  upon  the  future  development  of  the  institute  which  today 
is  following  his  suggestions  almost  as  closely  as  if  he  were  still  its 
Director. 

Nor  could  an  ideal  institute  be  developed  without  a  very  substantial 
and  considerable  material  foundation. 

After  General  Wistar  had  erected  a  fireproof  museum  and  laboratory 
building  at  a  cost  of  $125,000  on  ground  presented  by  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  on  September  1,  1893,  he  created  a  trust  fund  of  about 
$130,000  for  the  support  of  the  Institute.  This  fund  was  increased 
from  time  to  time  by  General  Wistar  and  at  the  last  inventory,  Decem- 
ber, 1913,  was  valued  at  $236,708. 


168  APPENDIX 

On  October  1,  1898,  General  Wistar  established  a  second  trust  fund 
with  securities  amounting  to  $340,000  which  in  the  December,1913, 
inventory  was  valued  at  $405,903.21. 

A  third  fund,  known  as  the  Contingent  Fund,  was  established  by 
General  Wistar  on  January  2,  1902,  the  Income  from  the  second  trust 
being  used  for  a  time  to  build  up  this  fund.  By  the  conditions  of  the 
trust  deed,  pertaining  to  the  Contingent  Fund,  the  entire  amount  of 
the  fund  or  any  portion  of  it  may  be  used  at  one  time  for  any  purpose 
of  the  Institute,  but  the  fund  must  be  at  once  accumulated  to  its  pre- 
scribed limit  of  $200,000  whenever  it  has  been  depleted.  In  the  Decem- 
ber, 1913,  inventory,  this  fund  was  valued  at  $226,998.80. 

Profiting  by  the  experiences  of  other  endowed  institutions,  General 
Wistar  inserted  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  his  trust  deed  the  require- 
ment that  at  least  10  per  cent  and  more,  if  needed,  of  the  net  income 
from  each  trust  fund  should  be  added  to  the  principal  in  order  that  the 
principal  should  not  only  be  maintained,  but  also  be  increased. 

In  addition  to  these  funds,  General  Wistar  presented  to  the  Institute 
improved  real  estate  in  Chicago  valued  at  $300,000. 

On  December  6,  1901,  the  Wistar  Institute  purchased  from  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  the  remaining  portion  of  the  triangular  lot  bounded 
by  Woodland  Avenue,  Spruce  and  36th  Streets.  General  Wistar  fur- 
nished the  money  for  this  purchase. 

In  his  Will,  General  Wistar  made  the  Wistar  Institute  residuary 
legatee  to  his  estate,  so  that  after  certain  small  annuities  are  extin- 
guished the  Wistar  Institute  will  receive  for  its  support  the  income  on 
an  additional  estate  of  considerable  value. 

In  1897,  General  Wistar  added  a  new  wing  to  the  museum  building 
at  a  cost  of  $45,000  affording  additional  museum  and  laboratory  space 
and  a  complete  heating  and  lighting  equipment. 

Through  the  liberality  of  General  Wistar,  the  Institute  now  has 
ground  for  expansion  and  an  increasing  endowment  which  permits  it 
to  maintain,  a  museum  and  research  staff  of  sufficient  proportions  to 
accomplish  much  in  its  special  field. 

During  the  early  days  following  the  incorporation  of  the  Institute, 
General  Wistar  took  a  most  active  interest  in  every  detail.  It  was 
his  custom  to  make  weekly  visits  to  the  Institute,  usually  on  Sunday 
mornings,  when  he  reviewed  the  work  of  the  week  or  discussed  with 
the  Assistant  Director,  the  needs  of  the  Institute.  It  was  on  these 
Sunday  morning  visits  that  the  future  of  the  Institute  was  most  fre- 
quently discussed  and  gradually  General  Wistar  became  aware  of  the 


APPENDIX  169 

necessity  of  greater  income  so  that  with  a  larger  staff  the  Institute 
might  make  an  impression  upon  the  progress  of  American  anatomy. 

Dr.  Horace  Jayne  succeeded  Dr.  Harrison  Allen  as  Director  of  the 
Wistar  Institute  in  1894. 

Doctor  Jayne's  work  in  biology  had  brought  him  into  prominence 
as  an  investigator.  His  activities  in  organizing  the  first  biological 
department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  his  generosity  in 
providing  a  building  for  this  department  indicates  the  type  of  work 
which  he  enjoyed  and  in  which  he  was  so  successful.  As  Director  of 
the  Wistar  Institute,  he  took  active  interest  in  the  building  up  of  the 
museum  and  through  his  generosity  and  influence  with  others  con- 
tinued to  add  to  the  collection  much  valuable  material  for  the  study  of 
comparative  anatomy. 

The  library  needed  attention  and  with  characteristic  generosity 
Doctor  Jayne  presented  his  complete  anatomical  library  to  the  Insti- 
tute. This  made  a  most  attractive  beginning  especially  in  sets  of 
zoological  periodicals. 

During  the  ten  years  of  Doctor  Jayne's  administration,  the  museum 
received  the  chief  attention.  The  casing  of  materials,  their  orderly 
and  accessible  arrangement  were  serious  problems.  Only  foreign  mu- 
seums had  thus  far  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  modern  museum  equip- 
ment. The  disadvantages  of  the  wooden  case  were  overcome  by  adopt- 
ing the  steel  and  glass  cases  for  all  forms  of  exhibition.  This  type  of 
museum  case  was  not  to  be  purchased  in  the  American  markets.  There- 
fore, new  cases  were  devised,  various  forms  of  storage,  exhibition  jars 
and  laboratory  equipment  were  invented.  A  machine  shop  was  in- 
stalled for  the  production  of  such  cases  and  other  museum  and  labo- 
ratory devices  as  could  not  be  purchased,  and  thus  the  Wistar  Insti- 
tute was  the  first  museum  in  America  to  produce  a  satisfactory  metal- 
glass  museum  case. 

During  this  period  of  museum  growth,  while  the  amount  of  material 
had  quadrupled,  the  laboratories  had  received  some  attention  and  a 
number  of  investigators  had  found  it  advantageous  to  pursue  their 
researches  at  the  Wistar  Institute. 

In  December,  1904,  Dr.  Horace  Jayne  resigned  as  Director  of  the 
Institute  and  in  January,  1905,  Dr.  Milton  J.  Greenman,  who  had 
acted  as  Assistant  Director  from  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  Insti- 
tute, was  elected  Director. 

During  the  early  period  of  the  Institute's  existence  marked  changes 
had  taken  place  in  the  methods  of  biological  research.  Experimental 


170  APPENDIX 

work  with  living  forms  came  to  be  an  interesting  and  fruitful  field  of 
research;  cytology  developed  as  an  important  and  extensive  special 
field  in  zoology;  heredity  received  greater  attention,  the  chemistry  of 
organic  substances  came  into  much  greater  importance  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  vital  phenomena;  biological  investigation  was  advancing 
from  the  qualitative  to  the  quantitative  type. 

About  this  time  the  necessity  for  greater  cooperation  in  anatomical 
work  was  recognized  by  Professor  His  in  Germany  in  his  suggestion 
of  a  central  anatomical  institute  for  embryology  and  by  Professor 
Flechsig  in  his  outline  of  a  central  anatomical  institute  for  neurology. 
Through  the  efforts  of  the  International  Association  of  Academies, 
the  Brain  Commission  was  organized,  its  object  being  to  stimulate 
cooperative  work  on  the  structure  and  function  of  the  brain.  In 
America,  through  the  influence  of  the  American  Association  of  Anato- 
mists, the  Society  of  American  Zoologists  and  various  other  organi- 
zations, new  life  had  been  instilled  into  biological  science  and  American 
anatomy  had  not  only  regained  its  place  of  a  century  previous,  but 
was  also  making  rapid  advances. 

It  seemed  now  that  the  Institute  should  take  a  more  active  part 
in  the  productive  scientific  work  of  the  country.  With  its  physical 
equipment,  its  modest  yet  increasing  income,  its  organization,  suffi- 
ciently independent  to  do  national  cooperative  work,  yet  with  an 
advantageous  University  connection,  and  a  keen  progressive  Board 
of  Managers  headed  by  Mr.  Charles  C.  Harrison  who  had  succeeded 
Dr.  William  Pepper  as  President  in  1898,  it  seemed  well  worth  while 
to  call  together  a  number  of  representative  anatomists  and  zoologists 
to  discuss  the  scientific  policy  of  the  Institute  and  determine  what 
type  of  work  and  along  what  lines  the  Institute  could  most  advanta- 
geously expend  its  energies. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Director,  General  Wistar  said:  "I  fully 
agree,  viz.:  (1)  that  the  Wistar  Institute  Museum  should  be  designed 
for  the  use  of  investigators,  rather  than  a  mere  gaping  public.  In 
doing  so,  you  would  incidentally  and  necessarily  supply  all  that  is 
necessary  for  undergraduate  students,  outside  of  the  regular  Chair  of 
Anatomy.  (2)  I  think  that  after  the  preparation  you  have  already 
made,  by  conferring  with  leading  anatomists,  an  expenditure  of  a  few 
hundred  dollars  to  assemble  and  entertain  a  meeting  of  such  men  in 
April,  would  be  of  advantage  to  the  Institute;  its  objects  and  public 
value.  (3)  I  think  the  President  has  authority  to  order  such  expendi- 


APPENDIX  171 

tures  and  to  invite,  or  authorize  you  to  invite  the  anatomists  you  have 
named,  and  I  will  strongly  recommend  him  to  do  so." 

Consequently,  on  April  11  to  13,  1905,  a  Conference  of  American 
Anatomists  was  held  at  the  Institute  and  as  a  result  a  permanent 
Advisory  Board  was  organized  and  arrangements  made  for  holding 
yearly  meetings  in  Philadelphia.  This  board  was  at  that  time  and 
still  is  composed  of  the  following  men: 

PROF.  L.  F.  BARKER  DR.  G.  CARL  HUBER 

DR.  E.  G.  CONKLIN  Dr.  F.  P.  MALL 

DR.  H.  H.  DONALDSON  DR.  C.  S.  MiNOT2 

PROF.  S.  H.  GAGE  DR.  G.  A.  PIERSOL 

DR.  G.  S.  HTJNTINGTON  DR.  J.  P.  McMuRRicH 

Dr.  M.  J.  Greenman  was  elected  to  this  board  in  1911. 

Committees  were  appointed  to  establish  relations  with  other  scien- 
tific bodies  with  the  object  of  promoting  cooperative  work  and  estab- 
lishing the  Wistar  Institute  as  a  central  anatomical  institute. 

A  definite  scientific  policy  was  outlined  and  neurology,  comparative 
anatomy  and  embryology  were  designated  as  the  research  fields  in 
which  the  Institute  should  take  active  part. 

While  such  a  procedure  was  at  that  time  without  precedent,  its 
results  rendered  it  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  history  of 
the  Institute.  The  impetus  which  it  has  given  to  the  scientific  work 
of  the  Institute  cannot  well  be  estimated. 

Owing  to  the  modest  sum  available  at  that  time  for  current  expenses, 
the  Institute's  energies  were  at  first  expended  in  developing  the  work 
in  Neurology  by  appointing  Dr.  Henry  H.  Donaldson  as  Professor 
of  Neurology  and  a  small  staff  of  trained  assistants. 

In  1906,  the  Wistar  Institute  was  designated  by  the  Brain  Commis- 
sion, a  Commission  appointed  by  the  International  Association  of 
Academies,  as  the  American  Central  Institute  for  Brain  Investigation, 
the  object  of  this  Commission  being  to  encourage  and  direct  cooper- 
ative work  in  the  study  of  the  brain. 

Since  1906,  some  250  human  brains  have  been  collected  for  this  work; 
of  these  fifteen  or  more  are  from  distinguished  individuals  who  have 
left  their  brains  to  science. 

The  next  step  in  the  development  of  the  Institute  was  to  establish 
a  publication.  It  was  apparent  that  the  usefulness  and  strength  of 
a  central  anatomical  Institute  lay  in  its  connections  and  cooperation 

*  Dr.  Minot  died  November  19,  1914. 


172  APPENDIX 

with  other  institutions.  It  was  proposed,  therefore,  to  continue  the 
publication  of  the  Journal  of  Morphology  as  a  periodical  of  the  Wistar 
Institute. 

This  Journal,  founded  in  1887  by  Prof.  Charles  0.  Whitman,  had 
established  for  itself  an  enviable  reputation  for  the  excellence  of  its 
contributions,  but  had  suspended  publication  in  1902  for  lack  of  funds. 
After  a  conference  with  Professor  Whitman  and  others  interested  in 
this  journal  and  the  Institute,  this  Journal  was  assigned  to  the  Wistar 
Institute  and  the  publication  was  re-established  in  February,  1908, 
when  Vol.  19,  No.  1,  appeared  under  the  Wistar  Institute  imprint. 

The  re-establishment  of  the  Journal  of  Morphology  led  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  advisability  of  publishing  The  Journal  of  Comparative 
Neurology,  The  American  Journal  of  Anatomy  and  The  Anatomical 
Record,  the  latter  two  journals  being  closely  allied  with  the  American 
Association  of  Anatomists,  and  finally  The  Journal  of  Experimental 
Zoology,  all  well  established  independent  journals  financed  and  edited 
by  scientific  men. 

The  guarantee  of  permanency  which  the  Institute's  imprint  would 
give  to  these  journals,  the  financial  advantages  of  management  in  one 
central  office,  instead  of  five,  and  the  relief  of  busy  scientific  men  from 
many  routine  editorial  duties  were  arguments  in  favor  of  combining 
the  five  journals  under  the  Wistar  Institute's  control. 

The  five  journals  were  acquired  by  the  Institute  on  a  somewhat 
tentative  plan  lest  the  experiment  should  prove  a  failure  and  it  might 
be  desirable  to  inaugurate  some  other  form  of  control  and  management. 

The  editorial  board  of  each  journal  was  accepted  as  it  had  formerly 
been  constituted,  only  a  few  changes  being  made  by  the  editors  them- 
selves. These  journals  had  in  each  case  a  paid  subscription  list,  but 
not  one  was  entirely  self-supporting. 

At  that  time  the  Institute  was  permitted  to  expend  only  a  little  more 
than  one-half  of  its  income,  the  remaining  half  being  required  to  build 
up  the  Contingent  Fund.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to  secure  finan- 
cial aid  to  carry  on  the  journal  enterprise.  To  meet  this  exigency, 
Dr.  Horace  Jayne,  formerly  Director  of  the  Institute,  generously  assisted 
in  the  editorial  manaegment  and  paid  the  deficit  incurred  for  two 
successive  years. 

In  1909  with  greater  available  income,  the  Institute  assumed  the 
entire  financial  responsibility  of  the  journals. 

The  results  of  this  combination  of  publications  under  one  manage- 
ment were  first,  to  increase  the  distribution  of  the  publications  to 


APPENDIX  173 

libraries  and  institutions,  incidentally  increasing  the  financial  support 
of  the  journals  and  second,  to  reduce  the  cost  of  manufacture,  the 
reduction  accomplished  in  manufacturing  costs,  by  the  scheme  of  cen- 
tral management,  being  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  entire  cost 
of  the  staff  required  to  conduct  the  publications.  In  addition,  there 
has  been  improvement  in  typography,  in  paper,  in  the  promptness  of 
issue  and  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  material  published. 

For  the  Institute,  these  publications  furnish  an  outlet  for  the  work 
of  its  laboratories  and  bring  it  into  relations  with  a  large  group  of 
investigators  scattered  throughout  the  country,  while  the  scientific 
work  of  the  Institute  is  carried  into  practically  every  research  ana- 
tomical laboratory  of  the  world.  Furthermore,  the  Institute  is  pro- 
moting anatomical  science  in  a  most  substantial  manner. 

From  1905  to  the  present  time,  the  Institute  has  maintained  an  active 
staff  of  investigators  composed  of  Professors,  Instructors  and  Fellows. 
The  Professors  and  Instructors  are  persons  of  similar  qualifications  to 
those  of  men  in  corresponding  university  positions.  Fellows  vary  in 
grade  so  that  the  title  does  not  indicate  any  fixed  degree  of  achieve- 
ment. The  Fellowships  of  the  Institute  are  provided  for  in  the  Deeds 
of  Trust,  while  the  Professorships  and  the  Instructorships  have  been 
created  by  action  of  the  Board  of  Managers.  Fellows  are  usually  men 
who  come  to  the  Institute  for  limited  periods,  devoting  their  time  to 
research  and  to  the  work  of  the  museum  and  eventually  receiving 
teaching  or  research  appointments  elsewhere. 

The  chief  energies  and  resources  of  the  Institute  since  1905,  have 
been  expended  in  establishing  the  research  work  while  the  museum 
has  become  the  depository  of  materials  having  scientific  interest. 
This  has  necessitated  a  considerable  equipment  in  the  laboratories, 
including  microscopes,  microtomes,  ovens,  refrigerator  and  many  special 
devices.  The  Institute  is  now  well  equipped  for  its  work. 

That  the  research  has  been  successfully  established  is  best  shown 
by  the  papers,  too  technical  to  mention  here,  which  have  emanated 
from  the  Institute's  laboratories. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  institute  work  differs  from  the  work  of  a 
university  laboratory  in  one  essential  respect,  namely,  that  a  research 
institute  staff  is  more  or  less  permanent  from  year  to  year  while  the 
majority  of  a  university  staff  composed  of  the  Professor  and  a  group 
of  graduate  students  is  changing  every  year.  The  Institute,  there- 
fore, is  able  to  undertake  an  investigation  requiring  several  years  to 
complete  without  the  disadvantage  of  having  to  train  a  new  group  of 


174  APPENDIX 

assistants  at  frequent  periods.  Then,  too,  a  research  institute  may 
direct  all  its  force  for  a  time  into  one  or  two  fields  of  research  requiring 
intensive  work  and  extensive  funds,  while  rarely  can  a  university  labo- 
ratory divert  any  great  amount  of  energy  and  funds  to  one  problem. 
It  is  here  that  not  only  the  Wistar  Institute,  but  every  research  insti- 
tute may  hope  to  prove  its  usefulness. 

It  has  been  stated  further,  that  the  existence  of  the  research  insti- 
tute in  America  today  is  due  chiefly  to  the  inability  of  universities  to 
promote  research  in  their  laboratories  as  a  training  and  culture  as  well 
as  for  its  practical  good.  The  research  institute  is  in  a  sense  on  trial 
as  an  independent  organization.  The  present  tendency  seems  to  be 
for  the  establishment  of  institutes  for  limited  fields  of  work. 

There  is  a  group  of  men  who  regard  the  position  of  a  teaching  pro- 
fessor as  the  most  desirable  for  the  production  of  good  scientific  work. 
They  tell  us  that  contact  with  students  is  a  stimulus  to  better  work 
and  that  the  investigator  in  a  research  institute  becomes  self-centered, 
extravagant  of  tune  and  funds  and  loses  much  which  comes  of  contact 
with  the  untrained  student.  It  seems  to  the  writer  that  there  is  much 
force  in  all  these  statements,  but  that  the  real  question  is  a  question 
of  individuality.  Many  men  do  excellent  research  in  a  teaching  posi- 
tion, while  another  group  is  better  fitted  for  the  research  institute  and 
need  no  student  stimulus  to  produce  good  work. 

At  the  Wistar  Institute  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  work  of  Pro- 
fessor Donaldson  on  the  growth  of  the  nervous  system  is  unique  in 
its  conception  and  in  its  results.  Probably  no  American  anatomist 
has  so  deliberately  planned  and  so  persistently  followed  a  single  sub- 
ject, with  its  closely  allied  branches,  as  Professor  Donaldson  has  fol- 
lowed the  problem  of  growth  of  the  nervous  system.  Continuous, 
connected  and  correlated  work  of  this  type  means  progress  in  antomy. 

His  results  have  added  much  luster  to  the  reputation  of  the  Wistar 
Institute  and  his  example  of  scientific  exactness  has  influenced  the  entire 
staff.  Closely  associated  with  Professor  Donaldson  has  been  Dr.  S. 
Hatai  whose  assistance  in  the  neurological  work  has  been  invaluable. 

The  experimental  study  of  living  animals  has  been  actively  pursued 
in  much  of  the  work  done  by  the  Institute's  staff.  For  this  purpose 
a  large  colony  of  albino  rats  is  now  maintained  at  the  Institute  to  supply 
research  materials.  As  a  result  of  the  intensive  character  of  investi- 
gations by  the  Institute  staff  there  now  exists  more  data  bearing  upon 
the  life  history  of  this  mammal  than  upon  that  of  any  other  form, 
man  not  excepted.  This  fact  together  with  certain  characteristics  of 


APPENDIX  175 

the  species  render  the  albino  rat  a  most  useful  laboratory  animal.  It 
is  easy  to  handle,  readily  kept  and  is  omnivorous.  It  is  almost  unique 
in  that  it  represents  a  domesticated  variety,  the  wild  ancestor  of  which 
may  be  easily  obtained  the  world  over.  Its  span  of  life  is  about  three 
years.  It  breeds  at  three  months  and  during  all  seasons;  has  a  gesta- 
tion period  of  21-22  days  and  casts  seven  young  in  a  litter — which 
are  very  immature — a  most  useful  character. 

Reared  under  uniform  conditions,  the  albino  rat  becomes  a  standard 
form  suitable  for  the  most  accurate  experimental  purposes.  Age,  body 
length,  weight  of  body,  of  brain  and  other  organs,  number  of  fibers  in 
peripheral  nerves  all  bear  a  certain  relation,  so  that  any  modification 
of  food,  environment  or  any  treatment  the  animal  receives  may  show 
a  deviation  from  normal  in  one  or  more  of  these  factors.  For  accurate 
experiments  on  living  animals,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  and  always 
advisable  to  use  a  portion  of  one  litter  for  experiment  and  the  other 
half  of  the  litter  as  controls  for  the  experimented  half.  In  this  manner 
the  slightest  deviation  from  normal  may  be  detected. 

The  Institute  now  maintains  probably  one  of  the  largest  and  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  most  successful  animal  colonies  in  the  country. 
It  requires  a  great  deal  of  care  and  constant  vigilance  to  maintain  a 
healthy  breeding  colony  of  small  mammals.  To  Dr.  J.  M.  Stotsenburg, 
whose  methods  and  skill  have  produced  this  unique  colony,  the  Insti- 
tute is  indebted  for  its  best  research  material. 

The  animal  colony  now  occupies  a  building  about  thirty  feet  by 
ninety  feet,  three  stories  in  height,  well  equipped  with  sanitary  cages 
and  the  requisite  devices  for  the  production  of  healthy  animals  under 
uniform  conditions  of  food  and  environment. 

In  addition  to  its  own  laboratories,  the  Institute  furnishes  a  large 
number  of  animals  to  cooperating  laboratories  throughout  the  country 
with  the  object  of  encouraging  research  upon  a  single  form  so  that 
results  from  the  various  laboratories  may  be  correlated  with  greater 
accuracy. 

During  the  past  ten  years,  from  1905  to  1914,  inclusive,  the  work- 
ing force  of  the  Institute  has  doubled.  The  laboratories  are  now  pro- 
ducing on  an  average,  one  scientific  publication  per  month  throughout 
the  year.  A  number  of  advanced  workers  hi  anatomy  have  found 
it  advantageous  to  conduct  their  researches  in  the  laboratories,  which 
are  always  open  to  men  who  are  prepared  to  utilize  the  facilities,  and 
several  graduate  students  from  other  institutions  are  usually  found  in  the 
Institute's  laboratories  each  doing  research  work  for  his  doctor's  degree. 


176  APPENDIX 

During  the  decade  just  passed,  the  working  library  of  the  Institute 
has  grown  with  the  work  in  the  laboratories  and  under  the  careful 
management  of  Miss  Clara  N.  Ferine  now  contains  2466  bound  vol- 
umes and  3015  pamphlets  carefully  catalogued  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods,  and  an  author-subject  index  to  the  literature  on 
microscopy,  anatomy  and  physiology  of  140,000  cards. 

In  addition  to  this  purely  anatomical  library,  the  Institute  received 
by  General  Wistar's  Will  his  private  library  which  contains  about  4000 
bound  volumes  also  catalogued,  and  in  addition  many  letters  and  docu- 
ments relating  to  the  early  history  of  this  country. 

The  museum  during  the  same  period  has  accumulated  considerable 
material  for  future  study  and  at  the  close  of  1914  the  work  here  has 
been  resumed  with  the  purpose  of  continuing  in  an  active  manner 
the  development  of  a  synthetic  museum  of  comparative  anatomy.  The 
number  of  preparations  has  increased  from  3000  at  the  opening  of  the 
Institute  to  15,300  at  the  end  of  1914. 

A  large  number  of  the  finest  preparations  in  the  original  museum 
were  never  transferred  to  the  Institute,  but  were  loaned  to  the  Medical 
School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  for  teaching  purposes.  Many 
of  the  older  dissections  have  passed  their  usefulness  and  are  gradually 
being  replaced  by  better  and  more  permanent  preparations.  Some  of 
these  are  interesting  historically,  having  been  prepared  by  Dr.  Caspar 
Wistar  himself  while  another  class  of  material,  pathological  in  character, 
is  interesting  because  it  indicates  the  advent  of  modern  surgery  in  over- 
coming the  conditions  which  these  specimens  exhibit. 

During  the  existence  of  the  present  Institute,  many  interesting  human 
skulls  and  skeletons,  representing  race  types,  have  been  collected  and 
a  large  series  of  skeletons  of  other  mammals  have  been  accumulated. 
Several  hundred  human  brains,  many  of  the  highest  type  have  been 
secured.  The  museum  also  possesses  a  large  series  of  birds,  reptiles 
and  mammlals  from  Borneo  and  its  neighboring  islands. 

The  future  development  of  the  museum  will  depend  upon  the  research 
conducted  in  the  laboratories. 

Materials  having  research  interest  and  value  will  be  added  and  the 
museum  will  present  nature's  original  record  of  the  investigator's  pub- 
lished work. 

In  human  anatomy  an  elaborate  series  of  educational  exhibits  has 
been  prepared  on  the  structure  of  the  skull.  This  series  is  in  use  almost 
continuously  by  medical  and  dental  students  who  visit  the  museum. 
The  teratological  collection  is  the  most  extensive  in  the  country.  The 


APPENDIX  177 

embryological  collection  of  sectioned  and  mounted  embryos  ready  for 
study  is  growing  rapidly.  This  collection  will  form  one  stage  in  the 
synthetic  museum  of  comparative  anatomy. 

The  close  of  1914  will  see  the  Annex  completed  and  facilities  added 
for  photography,  plaster  casting  and  model  making.  There  will  be 
additional  laboratory  space,  just  now  very  much  needed.  The  Annex 
will  also  provide  a  seminar  room,  committee  rooms,  storage  rooms  and 
a  number  of  minor  facilities  for  the  work  of  the  Institute. 

The  Wistar  Institute,  the  first  of  its  kind  to  be  established  in  this 
country,  takes  its  rank  with  institutions  of  similar  character  like  the 
Senckenbergische  Institut  in  Frankfurt  A/M,  the  Naples  Zoological 
Station,  the  Institute  Solvay  in  Brussels  and  with  the  later  institutions 
like  the  Pasteur  Institute,  the  Rockefeller  Institute  and  the  Carnegie 
Institution  of  Washington. 

November  20,  1914. 


INDEX 


VOLUME  I 


Corporations 

Adams  Express  Company,  310. 

Baker  &  Wistar,  313. 

Crockett  &  Page,  299,  302. 

H.  Hentz  &  Co.,  323. 

Hudson  Bay  Company,   47,   83,   84,   93,   99, 

206,  208,  211,  221,  229,  230,  235,  236,  241,  258, 

273,284. 

Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.,  323. 
Page,  Bacon  &  Co.,  310. 
Peyton  &  Foote,  332. 
Pioche  Bayerque  &  Co.,  323. 
Provident  Life  and  Trust  Co.,  135. 
Wright  &  Co.,  323. 
Zachrisson  Nelson  Company,  157. 

Game 


Grouse,  96,  97. 

Marten,  (see  Sable). 

Mink,  212. 

Moose,  206,  211,  222,  272. 

Mountain  lion,  (see  panther). 

Prairie-dog,  76. 

Panther  (mountain  lion),  63, 103, 109,  183,  211. 

Sable  (marten),  206,  208,  209,  212,  213,  217,  272. 

Salmon,  263,  280. 

Shark,  279. 

Swan,  88. 

Teal,  271. 

Turkey,  40,  50,  66. 

Trout,  34,  91,  92,  101,  125. 

Wolf,  34,  73,  77,  108,  109,  136,  183,  211,  231, 

263,  291. 
Wolverine  (carcajou),  209,  210,  211. 


Antelope,  64,  73,  75,  76,  77,  78,  80,  85,  88,  89,  Indians 

91,  92. 

Bear,  78,  115,  125,  127,  129,  136,  183,  184,  186,  American  River,  126. 

187,  211,  262,  263,  271,  272.  Arapahoe,  81,  83. 

Beaver,  263.  Assinaboine,  217,  218,  219,  220,  221. 

Bighorn,  90,  92,  109,  113,  222,  272.  Blackfeet,  72,  206,  217,  218,  219,  220. 

Black  bass,  40.  Bloods,  218. 

Buffalo,  66,  78,  79,  81,  82,  87,  88,  207,  211,  221,  Cheyenne,  81,  83. 

222,  272.  Coquilles,  241. 

Caribou,  207,  211,  215,  272.  Delaware,  72. 

Catfish,  57.  Digger,  101,  102,  103,  104,  105,  110. 

Coyote,  133,  136.  Huron,  197. 

Deer,  34,  35,  40,  50,  77,  78,  109,  113,  114,  122,  Hydahs,  274. 

125,  133,  136,  197,  211,  215,  222,  263,  271,  285.  Indian  village,  80. 

Dogfish,  279.  Klamath,  199. 

Duck,  101,  134,  271,  292.  Modoc,  245,  265. 

Eel,  lamprey,  264.  Pawnees,  50,  63,  65,  67,  72,  74,  81. 

Elk,  78,  133,  191,  192,  193,  196,  197,  222,  272.  Pintes,  105. 

Flounder,  292.  Pitt  River,  174. 

Fox,  136,  211,  263.  Pottawatomies,  50,  57,  58,  60. 

Geese,  113,  114,  202,  271.  Rogue  River,  241,  243. 

Goat,  222.  Shoshonee,  98,  102. 

179 


180 


INDEX 


Indians — Continued 

Sioux,  80,  81. 

Snake  (Shoshonee),  97,  98,  101. 

Surcees,  218,  219. 

Umpquas,  241. 

Institutions 

American  Philosophical  Society,  24. 

College  of  Philadelphia,  23. 

College  of  Physicians,  23. 

Committee  of  Safety  1793,  22. 

Friends  Boarding  School,  Westown,  25. 

Friends'  Select  School,  26. 

Haverford  School,  now  Haverford  College,  26. 

National  Academy  of  Sciences,  42,  76. 

Pennsylvania  Hospital,  23. 

Philadelphia  Dispensary,  23. 

Royal  Medical  Society,  Edinburgh,  23. 

San  Quintin  Penitentiary,  319,  330. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  24. 

Vigilance  Committee,  314,  320,  325,  329,  330, 

332. 

Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology,  24. 
Wistar  Parties,  24. 

Persons 

Alsop,  Samuel,  26. 

Ashe,  Dr.,  172,  174. 

Baker,  Col.  Edward  D.,  302,  303,  305,  306, 

308,  312,  319,  323,  332,  335,  336,  337. 
Bauer  family,  7. 
Benham,  Calhoun,  328. 
Bisell,  Francois,  187,  197,  198,  206,  214,  215, 

216,  232,  234,  235,  241,  243. 
Blair,  Montgomery  P.,  300. 
Boone,  Captain,  75,  76. 
Brown,  Mary  Wistar,  16. 
'Captain  Jack'  (Indian  chief),  243,  344,  245. 
Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  18. 
Cooper,  Isaac,  6. 
Cope,  Sarah  N.,  38. 
Count  of  Habsburg,  9. 
Coxe,  Brinton,  13. 
Crocker,  E.  B.,  302. 
Crockett,  Joseph  B.,  299,  301. 
'Cuteye  Foster,'  145. 
Donner  party,  110,  111. 
Elliot,  Jr.,  John,  135. 


Essling,  Nicholas,  169. 

Foote,  Gov.  Henry  S.,  330. 

Gambel,  Dr.  William,  42,  48,  58,  60,  75,  76. 

Garrison,  Cornelius  K.,  300,  301. 

Gookin,  Warren  D.,  41. 

Governor  Gordon,  7. 

Greenlief,  Catherine  W.,  18. 

Hagler,  Mrs.,  166. 

Haines,  Margaret  W.,  18. 

Heenan,  John  C.,  330. 

Heister  family,  7. 

Irving,  Henry  P.,  332,  333. 

James,  Jesse,  44. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  24. 

Johnson,  Katherine,  17. 

Johnson,  William  Neely,  328. 

Jones,  Hannah  Firth,  6. 

Jones,  Samuel  T.,  338. 

Keppele  family,  7. 

McKean,  Gov.  Thomas,  22. 

McCall,  Prof.,  340. 

Marshall,  Isabella,  23. 

Meiggs,  Henry,  321,  322. 

Mifflin,  Elizabeth,  24. 

Mifflin,  General  Thomas,  24. 

Miller,  Prof.,  340. 

Morris,  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  22. 

Morris,  Rebecca  W.,  18. 

Norton,  Judge,  335,  336. 

'Oregon  Jim,'  257. 

Page,  Hon.  Gwyn,  299,  306. 

Pate,  B.  T.,  333. 

Ralston,  Colonel,  44,  49. 

Riley,  General,  137,  138. 

Rudolphs,  Habsburg  princes,  9. 

Sayers,  Tom,  330. 

Sharswood,  Prof.,  340. 

Sherman,  William  T.,  323,  324,  325,  329,  330, 

332. 

Shipley,  Samuel  R.,  135. 
Shipley,  Thomas,  135. 
Smith,  Daniel  B.,  26. 
Smith,  'Peg-leg',  46. 
Terry,  David  E.,  172,  174. 
Terry,  William,  172,  174. 
Thompson,  Judge  R.  A.,  332. 
Turner,  Vicissimus,  300,  301. 
Wain,  Mary,  21. 


INDEX 


181 


Persons — Continued 

Ward,  Samuel,  338. 

Whitcomb,  A.  C.,  333. 

Wisster,  11. 

Wistar,  Caspar,  anatomist,  23. 

Wistar,  Dr.  Caspar,  6. 

Wistar,  Caspar,  24,  266,  267,  268,  269. 

Wistars  in  Canada,  14. 

Wistar,  Lydia  Jones,  6. 

Wistar,  Dr.  Mifflin,  39. 

Wistar,  Richard,  18. 

Wistar,  Sarah,  18. 

Wistar,  Thomas,  21. 

W'ister,  Ann  Barbara,  7. 

Wister,  Catharine,  7. 

Wister,    Caspar,    ancestor   of   all   American 

Wistars,  7. 

Wisters  in  Austria,  12. 
Wister  in  Scottish  records,  13. 
Wisters  in  Silesia,  11. 
Wister  is  Teutonic  Silesian,  13. 
Wister,  Johannes  Caspar,  7. 
Wister,  John,  ancestor  of  all  the  American 

Wisters,  7. 

Wister  of  Austrian  origin,  10. 
Wister-Wistar,  7. 
Wool,  Gen.,  329,  330. 
Wyath,  Sarah,  18. 

Places 

Bald  Hills,  180,  188,  190,  191,  193,  196. 

Belief onte,  Pa.,  31. 

Big  Horn  Mountains,  119,  216. 

Bear  River  Mountains,  96. 

Blackburn's  post,  189,  190,  191,  193. 

Black  Hills,  83,  85,  86,  87. 

Boiling  Springs,  106,  107. 

Butte  of  Shasta,  265. 

Calapooya  range,  288. 

Calapooya  pass,  288. 

Caledonia,  Pa.,  34. 

Callao,  147,  149,  268,  269. 

Cape  Flattery,  273,  276,  277. 

Cape  Mendocino,  80. 

Cascades,  see  Coast  Range. 

'Castle  Bluff'  (on  Platte),  82. 

Cero  Gordo,  304. 

Chagres,  161. 


Charleston,  S.  C.,  39,  40. 

Charlotte's  Island,  274. 

'Chimney  Rock'  (on  Platte),  82,  83. 

Chinchas,  147. 

Cincinnati,  43. 

Coast  Range  (Cascade),  141,  175,  181,  223, 

229. 

Continental  divide,  93. 
Contra  Costa,  270,  296. 
Corintos,  163. 
Coudersport,  35. 
'Devil's  Gate,'  90. 
Duwamish  Bay,  273,  276. 
Easton,  37. 

Elk  Camp,  180,  182,  188,  199. 
Enterprise,  Fla.,  40,  41. 
Erie,  Pa.,  34. 
Farallones,  277. 
Fort  Assinaboine,  218. 
Fort  Hall,  85,  93,  98,  99. 
Fort  Laramie,  83. 
Fort  Liard,  229. 
Fort  O'Kanagan,  230. 
Fort  St.  Vrain,  216. 
Fort  Saskatchewan,  218. 
Fort  Steilacoom,  273. 
Fort  Vancouver,  285. 
Fort  Victoria,  273. 
Fort  Umpqua,  285. 
Foster's  Bar,  143,  145. 
Foxchase,  37. 
Galipagos,  155. 

Goodyear's  Bar,  143,  144,  145. 
Great  Desert,  106. 
Great  Salt  Lake,  97,  98. 
Golden  Gate,  276,  279. 
Grand  Island,  River  Platte,  74. 
Grass  Valley,  139. 
Gulf  of  California,  166. 
Havana,  338. 
Hopkinsville,  Ky.,  299. 
Hudson's  Hope,  229. 
Humbolt  Bay,  186,  199. 
Humbolt  County,  301. 
Humbolt  Mountains,  100. 
Humbolt  River  Desert,  76,  96. 
'Independence  Rock,'  90. 
Independence,  Mo.,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46. 


182 


INDEX 


Places — Continued 

Indian  Territory,  50. 

Jersey  Shore,  34. 

Klamath  Lake,  203. 

Laramie  Range,  85. 

Laramie's  Peak,  83,  84,  86. 

Lehighton,  37. 

Marietta,  Pa.,  31. 

Marquesas  Islands,  266,  268. 

Marysville,  Cal.,  142. 

Melbourne,  268. 

Mississippi  Valley,  87,  99,  119. 

Mokelumne  Mines,  167. 

Monte  Diablo,  270. 

Monterey,  137,  170,  173. 

Mount  Rainier,  274. 

Nanticoke  dam,  36. 

National  Park,  119. 

Navigator  Islands,  268,  269. 

Nevada  City,  139. 

North  Point,  146. 

Nye's  Ranch,  142. 

Oakland,  270,  297. 

Olimpia,  273. 

Oregon  Valley,  206. 

Orleans  Bar,  188. 

Palatka,  Fla.,  40. 

Panama,  151,  155,  157,  160,  163,  165,  300,  337. 

Para,  41,  42. 

Pike's  Peak,  341. 

Point  Reyes,  278,  280. 

Portland,  244. 

Providence,  338. 

Puget  Sound,  272,  276. 

Pyramid  Lake,  108. 

Queen  Island,  274. 

Realejo,  163. 

Redding's  Springs  (see  Shasta  City). 

Redwood,  180. 

Rincon  Point,  173. 

Rocky  Mountains,  91,  115,  185,  206,  223,  272, 

285. 
Sacramento,  119,  130,  132,  134,  139,  142,  143, 

265,  266,  297. 

Sacramento  Valley,  112,  126,  128,  130. 
St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  40,  41. 
St.  John,  229. 
St.  Louis,  43. 
Salem,  288. 


Salmon  River  Mountains,  246. 

San  Diego,  187. 

San  Francisco,  124,  146,  148,  152,  155,  161,  164, 
167,  174,  245,  266,  269,  271,  280,  295,  297,  300, 
307,  309,  321,  323,  325,  329,  333,  339,  340. 

San  Jose",  163,  297. 

San  Juan  de  Fuca,  273. 

San  Luis  Obispo,  173. 

Sandwich  Islands,  146. 

Savannah,  40,  41. 

Scottsburg,  284,  288,  289. 

Scott's  Valley,  245,  246,  250,  255,  262,  265. 

Seattle,  274,  275. 

Selin's  Grove,  Pa.,  32. 

Shasta  City   (Redding's  Springs),    187,   246, 

250,  265. 

Shasta-Scott  Divide,  263. 
Shasta  Valley,  262,  263. 
Shuswap  Lakes,  206. 
Sidney,  269. 

Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  105,  107,  119,  223. 
Sink  of  the  Humbolt,  105,  106. 
Siskiyon  County,  253. 
Skookum  Chuck  Cascade,  273. 
Society  Islands,  268. 
Soda  Springs,  99. 
'South  Pass',  91. 
Steamboat  Springs,  99. 
Stockton,  167. 

Suiter's  Fort,  117,  119,  124,  126,  130,  138. 
Taboga,  162. 
Tete,  Jaune  Pass,  185. 
Terry's  Point,  276. 
Towanda,  36. 
Trinidad,  172,  175,  176,  186,  190,  196,  197,  201, 

206,281. 

Trinidad  Head,  168,  174. 
Trinity  Mountains,  246. 
'Truckee  Pass,'  112. 
Upoln  Island,  268,  269. 
Virginia  Springs,  341. 
Wahsatch  Mountains,  97,  119. 
Wald  Hilsbach,  Duchy  of  Baden,  8. 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  43. 
Whitehaven,  37. 
Wilkesbarre,  36. 
Willamette  Valley,  288. 
Wind  River  Range,  91,  92,  97. 
Yellowstone  National  Park,  216. 


INDEX 


183 


Rivers 

Amazon,  42. 

American,  128,  130,  132,  133. 

Arkansas,  216. 

Athabasca,  185,  206,  217,  219,  223. 

Bear,  97,  118,  125,  131,  133,  134. 

Big  Blue,  51,  52,  66. 

Big  Sandys,  93,  94. 

Big  Smoky,  223. 

Big  Vermillion,  62. 

Calapooyas,  206,  241. 

Chehallis,  236. 

Colorado,  93,  94,  95. 

Columbia,  99,  187,  206,  223,  229,  230,  236,  280, 

281. 

Coquille,  241. 
Cowlitz,  236. 
Deer  Creek,  125,  126. 
Duwamish,  273,  274. 
Eel,  186. 

Feather,  76,  118,  133,  139,  142,  143,  175. 
Frazer,  205,  223,  230,  235,  236. 
Green,  93,  94,  95. 
'Greenhorn',  117,  118,  130. 
Gold  Run  Creek,  126. 
Goose  Creek,  100. 
Humboldt,  100,  106. 
Humbug,  250. 
Kan.  or  Kansas,  56. 
Klamath,    168,    180,    188,    189,  191,  193,  203, 

243,  245,  246,  265. 
Laramie's  Fork,  83,  84,  85. 
Lewis  Fork,  99. 
Liard,  223,  229,  235,  285. 
Little  Blue,  63,  64,  65,  70,  72,  75. 
Little  Sandys,  93,  94. 
Little  Smoky,  223. 
Little  Vermillion,  60. 
Lehigh,  37. 
Missouri,  223. 

Okanagan,  206,  230,  231,  235. 
Pacific  Spring,  93. 

Peace,  206,  213,  219,  223,  229,  ?35,  285. 
Platte,  72,  73,  74,  78,  79,  81,  85,  87,  88,  89. 
Puyallup,  273. 
Redwood,  199. 
Republican,  78. 


Rogue,  206. 

Russian,  184. 

Sacramento,  113,  117,  118,  119,  130,  133,  139, 

187,  246,  265. 
Salmon,  168,  178,  188,  189,  203,  246,  256,  263, 

265. 

Salmon  Trout,  105,  109,  110. 
Saskatchewan,  206,  217,  223. 
Shasta  (Scott's)  168,  205,  247,  250,  265. 
Sinnemahoning,  35. 
Smoky  Fork,  206. 
Snake,  85,  93,  100. 
Susquehanna,  36. 
Sweetwater,  89,  90,  93. 
Thompson,  206,  223,  230,  235,  236. 
Trinity,  168,  189. 
Truckee,  105. 
Umpqua,  206,  289. 
Wakarusa,  55,  56. 
Willamette,  241,  257. 
Wind,  119. 
Yuba,  114,  118,  143,  144. 

Ships 

California,  337. 

Cambridge,  266. 

Central  America,  334,  338. 

Change,  147,  150,  152,  154,  159. 

Charleston,  147. 

Columbus,  164,  266. 

Cyane,  173. 

Eudora,  168,  174. 

Flying  Cloud,  311. 

General  Wool,  269. 

Josephine,  176,  177. 

Julius  Pringle,  152. 

Kate  Heath,  281. 

La  Favorita,  163. 

Mary  Helen,  268. 

Monumental  City,  269. 

New  World,  272. 

Norma,  311. 

Northerner,  39. 

Palmer,  311. 

Sea  Queen,  155. 

Wakulla,  176,  177. 

White  Squall,  311. 


184 


INDEX 


Unclassified 

Alcaldes,  Mexican,  138. 
Armorial  bearings,  11. 
California  bank  panic,  311. 
California  trail,  245,  281,  285. 
Cholera,  43,  52,  56,  64,  73. 
Democracy,  19. 
'Duffleling,'  217. 

Glass  Works,  First  in  America,  15. 
Kamas  root,  184,  241. 
Mountain  fever,  146. 
Mormons,  96,  98. 
Oregon  trail,  54,  245,  281,  285. 
Pennsylvania  Canal,  33. 
Philadelphia  evacuated,  18. 


Rattlesnake,  77,  264. 

Santa  F6  trail,  45,  54. 

Smallpox,  49,  52. 

State  Canals,  32. 

Treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  137. 

Washing  for  gold,  123. 

Wister  crest,  11. 

Yellow  fever  in  1793,  22. 

Wars 

Civil,  300,  320. 
Blenheim  (Battle  of),  10. 
Mexican,  302,  204,  238. 
Modoc,  245. 


INDEX 


VOLUME  II 


Battles 

Antietam,  58,  64,  69,  70,  74. 
Ball's  Bluff,  30,  33,  74,  118,  150. 
Bull  Run,  16,  35. 
Chancellorsville,  29. 
Drury's  Bluff,  101,  114,  115. 
Frederickaburg,  29. 
Peninsula,  29. 
Spottsylvania,  29. 

Corporations  and  Firms 

Camden  and  Amboy  R.  R.,  138. 

Corcoran  &  Riggs,  bankers,  16. 

Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  143. 

Farmers  Loan  and  Trust  Co.  N.  Y.,  152. 

Freedman's  Bank,  55. 

Hanibal  &  St.  Joseph  R.  R.,  1. 

Hudson  Bay  Company,  157. 

Irving  &  Pate,  3. 

Kansas  Pacific  R.  R.,  145. 

Lebanon  Valley  Road,  120. 

Morris  and  Essex  R.  R.  Co.,  129. 

New  York  and  Erie  R.  R.,  131. 

New  York  Trust  Co.,  150. 

Pennsylvania  Coal  Co.,  133,  134,  135,  143. 

Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Co.,  Canal  Dept.,  120. 

Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Co.,  121,  122,  130,  132, 

133,  135,  140. 

Philadelphia  and  Erie  R.  R.  Co.,  130. 
Reading  R.  R.  Company,  120,  121,  122,  123, 

124. 

Schuylkill  Navigation  Co.,  120. 
Texas  and  Pacific  R.  R.  Co.,  150. 
Union  Canal  Company,  119,  122,  124,  128. 
West  Branch  and  Susquehanna  Canal,  132, 

133. 

Wiconisco  Canal  Co.,  133,  134. 
Wyoming  Valley  Canal  Co.,  133. 
Zinc  Mining  and  Manufacturing  Co.,  128. 


Institutions 

Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia, 

155. 

Biological  Club,  153. 
Brigade  Survivors'  Asso.,  58. 
Campbellites,  25. 
Campfires,  127. 

Committee  of  One  Hundred,  149. 
Grand  Commanderies,  127. 
Grand  Armies,  127. 
Haverford  College,  117. 
Lodges,  127. 
Loyal  Legions,  127. 
Museums  of  Natural  History,  155. 
Regimental  Survivors'  Asso.,  21,  25. 
Sanitary  Commission,  79,  126. 
Society  of  Friends,  25,  117. 
Soldiers'  Homes,  124. 
Sons  of  Veterans,  127. 
Union  League  Club  (Philadelphia),  92. 
Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy,  74. 
Zoological  Gardens,  155. 

Military  Matters 

Article  of  War,  65,  79,  99. 

Brevet  titles,  126. 

"Coffee-boilers,"  48,  79. 

Colored  Troops,  104,  106. 

Conscripts,  100. 

Court  Martial,  89,  94,  99. 

Disobedience  of  orders,  53. 

Drafted  men,  98,  100. 

Field  hospitals,  Confederate,  57. 

Infantry  charge  on  cavalry,  52. 

Judge  Advocate,  92. 

Martial  law,  147. 

Mexican  War,  26. 

Military  Commission,  91,  92. 

Military  Committees,  Senate  and  House,  56. 


185 


186 


INDEX 


Military  Matters — Continued 

Military  District,  97. 
Provost  fund,  96. 
Provost  Marshal,  60,  80,  96. 
Quota  agenls,  State,  98. 
Recruiting,  15. 
Regiments,  State  raised,  94. 
Secretary  of  War,  91. 
Volunteer  System,  93. 
Volunteer  troops,  93. 

Military  Organizations 

Army,  Confederate,  71. 

Army,  Federal,  59. 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  46. 

Army  of  the  James,  102,  105,  106,  108,  114. 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  20,  43,  44,  45,  56,  85, 

87,  88,  89,  99,  101,  105. 
Army,  Western,  98. 
Artillery,  First  U.  S.,  69. 
Battalion,  Parish's,  30. 
Battery,  Bramhall's  Rhode  Island,  28. 
Battery,  Griffith's,  7. 
Brigade,  Baker's,  21. 
Brigade,  Burns',  42,  45,  53,  61. 
Brigade,  Dana's,  61,  63. 
Brigade,  Gorman's,  61,  63. 
Brigade,  Heckman's,  102,  109,  112,  113. 
Brigade,  "Reserve,"  70,  74. 
Brigade,  The  Philadelphia,  20,  27. 
Brigade,  Wistar's,  70. 
British  Army,  15. 
Cavalry,  First  District,  86. 
Cavalry,  Gen.  Fitz-Hugh  Lee's,  50. 
Cavalry,  llth  Pennsylvania,  87. 
Coast  Guard,  Confederate,  82. 
Corps,  Bank's,  41. 
Corps,  10th,  Gilmore's,  102,  107. 
Corps,  Gen.  H.  P.  Hill's,  44. 
Corps,  Longstreet's,  44,  52. 
Corps,  2nd,  29,  41,  50,  51,  56,  57. 
Corps,  10th,  111. 
Corps,  12th,  51. 
Corps,  18th  Army,  98,  102. 
Corps,  18th  Army,  second  division,  102. 
Division,  McCall's,  44. 
Division,  McLaw's,  62. 
Division,  Philadelphia,  11. 


Division,  Porter's,  18. 

Division,  Ransom's  Confederate,  109. 

Division,  Richardson's,  63. 

Division,  Sedgwick's,  20,  41,  45,  46,  50,  57, 

61,  62,  68. 

Division,  Siegel's,  48. 
Division,  Smith's,  18. 
Division,  Terry's,  107. 
Division,  Third,  104. 
Division,  Walkers,  62. 
Division,  Weitzel's  109. 
Germans  in  Siegel's  Division,  48. 
Lee's  Army,  45. 
Mounted  Rifles,  1st  N.  Y.,  86. 
Mounted  Rifles,  5th  Penna.,  86. 
Mounted  Rifles,  llth  Penna.,  86. 
Provost  Guard,  77,  79. 

Regiment,  California  (see  71st  Pennsylvania). 
Regiment,  llth  Connecticut,  87,  102. 
Regiment,  4th  Illinois  Volunteers,  26. 
Regiment,  13th  Indiana,  108. 
Regiment,  15th  Massachusetts,  21. 
Regiment,  19th  Massachusetts,  46,  56. 
Regiment,  23rd  Massachusetts,  102. 
Regiment,  25th  Massachusetts,  102. 
Regiment,  27th  Massachusetts,  102. 
Regiment,  1st  Minnesota,  46,  48. 
Regiment,  2nd  New  Hampshire,  102. 
Regiment,  New  Hampshire,  12th,  102. 
Regiment,  9th  New  Jersey,  102. 
Regiment,  42nd  New  York,  33. 
Regiment,  99th  New  York,  70. 
Regiment,  118th  New  York,  70,  89. 
Regiment,  148th  New  York,  102. 
Regiment,  34th  Ohio,  49. 
Regiment,  69th  Pennsylvania,  16,  20. 
Regiment  (California). 

71st  Pennsylvania,  13,  15,  17,  20,  21,  24,  25, 

27,  34,  41,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  47,  48,  53,  54,  61, 

65,  66,  67,  68,  74,  150. 
Regiment,  72nd  Pennsylvania,  16,  20,  51. 
Regiment,  106th  Pennsylvania,  20,  61. 
Regiment,  Tammany,  24. 
Regiment,  9th  Vermont,  70,  87. 
Regiment,  8th  Virginia,  28,  40,  150. 
Regiment,  19th  Wisconsin,  70. 
State  Militia,  11. 
War  Department,  85. 
West  Point  Academy,  49,  50,  112. 


INDEX 


187 


Newspapers 

Boston  Herald,  55. 
Evening  Telegraph,  23. 
Philadelphia  Inquirer,  55. 
Richmond  Examiner,  89. 
Rebellion  Record,  89. 
Richmond  Sentinel,  89. 

Persons 

Addison,  Maj.  William,  115. 

Allen,  Col.  William,  46. 

Baker,  A.  C.,  M.D.,  36. 

Baker,  Confederate  Col.,  53. 

Baker,  Gen.,  9,  10,  11,  13,  14,  15,  16,  18,  20, 

21,  22,  23,  24,  25,  27,  30,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  41. 
Bank,  Gen.,  42. 
Barton,  Dr.  J.  Rhea,  118. 
Baxter,  Col.,  6. 
Bayard,  C.  P.,  74. 

Beauregard,  Gen.,  41,  106,  107,  108,  111,  115. 
Belknap,  Secretary  of  War,  143. 
Berry,  Lieut.,  40,  41. 
Bonham,  Congressman,  11. 
Boyce,  Congressman,  11. 
Boyle,  John,  85,  86,  88. 
Boynton,  E.  Moody,  55,  56. 
Borie,  A.  E.,  74. 
Bramall,  Lieut.,  24. 
Brooks,  Capt.,  77. 
Brooks,  Gen.,  111. 
Brown,  John,  8. 
Buford,  Gen.,  56. 
Burns,  Gen.  Wm.  W.,  41,  51. 
Burnside,  Gen.,  59,  62. 
Butler,  Gen.,  99,  102,  104,  105,  108,  113,  117, 

124,  125,  128. 

Butler,  Gen.  B.  F.,  81,  82,  85,  89,  90. 
Cadwalader,  Gen.  Geo.,  11,  14. 
Cameron,  Simon,  132. 
Campbell,  St.  George,  121. 
Campbell,  Judge,  142. 
Cogswell,  Col.,  23,  24,  33. 
Crawford,  Captain,  145. 
Cumming,  A.  K.,  132. 
Gushing,  Lieut.,  69. 
Davis,  O.  W.,  74. 
Davis,  President,  115. 


Devins,  Col.,  21. 

Dingley,  Congressman,  55. 

Dix,  Gen.,  75,  77,  101. 

Drew,  Daniel,  131. 

Dwindle,  Surgeon,  38. 

Earl  of  Peterborough,  101. 

Fairgrieve,  Lieut.,  110. 

Frazer,  John  W.,  25. 

Fisk,  James,  131. 

Frelinghuyser,  Senator,  144. 

Gamble,  John  A.,  132. 

Gibbon,  Gen.,  157. 

Gould,  Jay,  131,  150,  152,  153. 

Grant,  President,  144,  145. 

Graves,  Mr.,  3. 

Hale,  Senator,  55. 

Halleck,  Gen.,  89. 

Hammond,  Capt.  LeRoy,  107. 

Hancock,  Gen.,  56. 

Hartranft,  Gov.,  146. 

Harvey,  Brig,  Agj.  Gen.,  24. 

Harvey,  Capt.  Frederick,  28,  33,  35. 

Heckman,  Gen.,  102,  109,  11. 

Heilprin,  Professor,  154. 

Hill,  Gen.  A.  P.,  59,  115. 

Hill,  Gen.  D.  H.,  59. 

Hooker,  Gen.,  58,  60,  61,  66. 

Hoopes,  Josiah,  145. 

Howard,  Gen.  O.  O.,  45,  51,  53,  54,  55,56,58,61. 

Humphreys,  113. 

Humphreys,  Maj.  A.  A.,  43. 

Hunton,  Gen.,  86. 

Hutchinson,  John  N.,  150. 

Jackson,  Gen. 'Stonewall,' 29,  41,  45,  59,  66. 

Jenkins,  Gen.,  72,  73. 

Jones,  Lieut.  Col.,  49. 

Joseph,  Nez  Perces  chief,  55. 

Kautz,  Gen.,  106. 

Kimber,  Thomas,  117. 

Kirby,  Lieut.,  69. 

Lane,  Governor,  11. 

Lee,  Admiral,  83. 

Lee,  Gen.  Fitz-Hugh,  50. 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E.,  13,  45,  60,  65. 

Lee,  Gen.  S.  D.,  61. 

Leidy,  Prof.  Joseph,  154. 

Lewis,  Captain,  63. 

Lewis,  Wm.  D.,  74. 


188 


INDEX 


Persons — Continued 

Lincoln,  President,  9,  10,  13,  93,  94. 

Lingenfelter,  Capt.,  17. 

Longstreet,  Gen.,  52,  57,  59,  71. 

Lord,  Ernest  Vane  Tempest,  32  (Stewart),  33. 

McClellan,  Gen.,  50,  57,  59,  94. 

McDougal,  Senator,  69. 

McDowell,  Gen.,  16. 

MeLaws,  Gen.,  66. 

Macalester,  C.,  74. 

Magruder,  Gen.,  42. 

Mansfield,  Gen.,  58,  60,  61. 

Markoe,  Capt.  John,  18,  23,  40,  152. 

Meade,  Gen.,  55,  56,  63,  66,  85. 

Memminger,  Mr.,  142. 

Miles,  Gen.,  55. 

Morehead,  Col.,  61. 

Morton,  Rev.  Henry  J.,  441. 

Mosby,  John  S.  Gen.,  67. 

Norris,  Dr.  Geo.  W.,  118. 

Ord,  Gen.,  97. 

Otis,  Dr.,  116. 

Otter,  Col.,  34. 

Owens,  Colonel,  61. 

Packer,  William  F.,  132. 

Palfrey,  Col.,  60. 

Parrish,  R.  A.,  Maj.,  16. 
Peck,  Gen.,  John  J.,  70. 

Penn,  William,  117. 

Pickett,  29,  45. 

Pope,  Gen.,  29,  45,  46,  59. 

Porter,  Gen.  Fitz-John,  17,  18. 

Randolph,  Mrs.,  129. 

Randolph,  T.  F.,  142. 

Randolph,  Theodore  F.,  128,  129. 

Ransom,  Gen.,  113. 

Reynolds,  Gen.,  56. 

Richardson,  Gen.,  63. 

Ritman,  Capt.,  22. 

Rizer,  Mrs.,  51. 

Scott,  Thomas  A.,  132,  150. 

Sedgwick,  Gen.  John,  41,  56,  57,  70. 

Sherman,  Gen.,  32. 

Shields,  Gen.,  26. 

Shober,  Samuel  L.,  74. 

Siegel,  Gen.,  48. 

Smith,  Capt.  W.  F.,  15. 

Smith,  Charles  E.,  121,  123. 


Smith,  Charles  W.,  Maj.,  16. 

Smith,  Gen.,  18. 

Smith,  Gen.  Wm.  F.,  98,  102, 104,  106,  109,  111, 
113,  114. 

Smith,  James  F.,  120. 

Spear,  Col.,  83,  87. 

Stanton,  Sec.  of  War,  E.  M.,  69. 

Stedman,  Col.,  102,  106,  112. 

Stewart,  Capt.  (Lord  Londonderry),  28. 

Stone,  Gen.  Chas.  P.,  18,  21,  27,  30,  31,  32,  40, 
41. 

Stuart,  Gen.  J.  E.  B.,  46,  61,  65,  66. 

Sully,  Col.,  46,  47,  48,  52. 

Sumuer,  Gen.  E.  V.,  41,  51,  52,  53,  56,  60,  61, 
65,69. 

Sumner,  Senator  Charles,  32,  69. 

Suttie,  George,  24. 

Taylor,  President,  26. 

Terry,  Gen.,  107,  108,  143. 

Thompson,  J.  Edgar,  121,  122,  123,  132,  133, 

134,  135,  136,  137,  138,  139. 
Toland,  Rebecca,  44. 
Toland,  Robert,  44. 
Toland,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Wistar),  44. 
Tucker,  John,  121. 
Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  131. 
Vansant,  Color  Serg.,  24. 
Wade,  Lieut.,  23. 
Walker,  Gen.,  66. 
Warren,  Gen.,  56. 
Washington,  L.  Q.,  Vice-Pres.,  11. 
Weitzel,  Gen.,  104,  105,  109. 
White,  Allison,  132. 
Whiting,  Gen.,  115. 
Whittlesey,  E.,  53. 
Wierman,  Thomas,  T.,  120. 
Williams,  Lieut.,  34. 
Wilson,  Lieut.,  68. 
Winsor,  Wm.  D.,  150. 
Wistar,  Mrs.  I.  J.,  44,  50,  51,  68,  69. 
Woods,  Color  Serg.,  R.  C.,  24. 

Places 

Acapulco,  141. 
Alaska,  155,  156. 
Alexandria,  42,  45. 
Antietam,  29. 
Atchison,  3. 


INDEX 


189 


Places — Continued 

Atlanta,  143. 

Austria,  147,  156. 

Baden,  147. 

Baltimore,  16. 

Baltimore  Cross  Roads,  87. 

Bavaria,  147. 

Bermuda  Hundred,  102,  106, 107,  108,  114,  115, 

116. 

Bermuda  Islands,  154. 
Berry ville,  41. 
Bloomfield,  3,  4. 
Blue  Ridge,  120. 
Bolivar  Heights,  41. 
Boonsboro,  57. 

Bottom's  Bridge,  77,  85,  86,  88,  89,  91. 
Bull  Run,  45. 
Burlington,  4,  7. 
Centreville,  45. 
Cerro  Gordo,  24. 
Main  Bridge,  16,  17,  45. 
Chancellorsville,  55,  56,  69. 
Chantilly,  46. 
Chapultepec,  141. 
Charles  City  Court  House,  91. 
Charleston,  41. 
Chattanooga,  98,  114. 
Chicago,  4,  7,  8. 
Chickamauga,  49. 
Clarksburg,  51. 
Clark's  Ferry,  132,  133. 
Claymont,  118,  145. 
Cold  Harbor,  29,  106. 
Colorado  Springs,  145. 
Columbia,  133. 
Conrad's  Ferry,  21,  22,  27. 
Cornwall,  147. 
Dallas,  150. 
Denver,  2,  145. 
Edward's  Ferry,  22,  27,  31. 
El  Paso,  150. 
England,  155. 
Erie,  130. 
Farrandsville,  132. 
Forge  Bridge,  91. 
Fort  Ethan  Allen,  16. 
Fort  Fisher,  116. 
Fort  Magruder,  76. 


Fortress  Monroe,  16,  42,  79,  81,  89,  99,  117. 

Fort  Schuyler,  15. 

Fort  Steilacome,  157. 

Fort  Sumpter,  11. 

Fort  Vancouver,  157. 

Fort  Worth,  150. 

France,  147,  155. 

Frederick,  53. 

Furka,  155. 

Georgetown,  145. 

Germany,  155. 

Gettysburg,  29,  45,  55,  56,  69,  77. 

Glasgow,  158. 

Glendale,  44,  45. 

Gloucester,  82. 

Gowen,  F.  B.,  121. 

Great  Britain,  147. 

Hagerstown,  62,  64,  69. 

Half-way  House,  113. 

Hampton,  16. 

Hampton  Roads,  92. 

Hanover  Court  House,  84,  88. 

Harper's  Ferry,  41,  42,  59. 

Harrison's  Island,  21,  27. 

Harrison's  Landing,  44,  45. 

Havana,  141. 

Hill's  Point,  71. 

Holland,  147. 

Hollidaysburg,  133. 

Hyattatown,  51. 

Idaho  Springs,  145. 

Inverness,  147. 

Ireland,  147. 

Italy,  147,  155. 

Jonestown,  121. 

Julier,  155. 

Keedysville,  57,  61,  69. 

Langley,  50. 

Lebanon,  132. 

Leesburg,  22. 

Lewinsville,  17. 

Little  Round  Top,  56. 

Lock  Haven,  132. 

Hockhaven,  Pa.,  67. 

Long  Branch,  144. 

Maloja,  155. 

Manassas,  29. 

Marshall,  150. 


190 


INDEX 


Places — Continued 

Meadow  Station,  88. 

Mexico,  141. 

Middletown,  132. 

Milton,  122. 

Mobile,  26. 

Monocacy,  51. 

Morristown,  N.  J.,  129. 

Mount  Rainier,  157. 

Multnomah  Island,  157. 

Munson's  Hill,  17,  18. 

New  Kent  Court  House,  84,  85,  86,  87,  88. 

New  Orleans,  104,  142,  151. 

New  York,  16,  141. 

Norfolk,  75,  91. 

Northumberland,  132. 

Old  Capital  Prison,  41. 

Peninsula,  42,  116. 

Petersburg,  102,  105,  106,  108,  114,  116. 

Pike's  Peak,  2. 

Pinegrove,  120. 

Pipe  Clay  Creek,  56. 

Pittsburgh,  56,  146. 

Poolesville,  Md.,  19,  27,  40,  41. 

Portland,  Ore.,  156. 

Potts  ville,  121. 

Prussia,  147. 

Pueblo,  142,  145. 

Puget  Sound,  157. 

Pulaski,  4. 

Richmond,  16,  84,  185,  86,  87,  88.  89,  90,  103, 

107,  108,  115. 
Rockville,  51. 
St.  Gothard,  155. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  1,  3. 
St.  Thomas,  141. 
Salem,  107. 
Salem,  O.,  1. 
Sandy  Hook,  41. 
San  Francisco,  25,  32,  71. 
Savage  Station,  44,  45. 
Saxony,  147. 
Seattle,  156. 
Sharpsburg,  59. 
Shenandoah  Valley,  41. 
Shreevesport,  150. 
Slabtown,  77,  96,  97. 
Slaterville,  91. 


Southampton,  141. 

South  Mountain,  56,  57,  59. 

Spliigen,  155. 

Spottsylvania,  70. 

Stelvio,  155. 

Stirling  Castle  Depot,  15. 

Stockdale,  117. 

Suffolk,  Va.,  70,  73,  74,  75. 

Suffolk  Park,  16. 

Switzerland,  147,  155. 

Tacoma,  156. 

Tacubaya,  141. 

Tenallytown,  Md.,  50. 

Turner's  Gap,  56,  57. 

Vancouver,  156. 

Vera  Cruz,  141,  142. 

Victoria,  156,  157. 

Wall  Street,  131. 

Wapta,  156. 

Washington,  9,  11,  13,  16,  26,  41,  42,  50,  55,  70, 

71,  79,  97,  105. 
West  Point,  Va.,  77,  78. 
White  Oak  Swamp,  44,  45. 
Williamsburg,  77,  81,  83,  84,  85,  86,  87. 
Williamsport,  132. 
Winchester,  42. 
Yellowstone  Park,  156. 
Yorktown,  42,  43,  75,  76,  78,  83. 
Yucatan,  141. 

Rivers 

Antietam  Creek,  51. 

Blackwater,  71. 

Blue,  2. 

Cherry  Creek,  2. 

Chickahominy,  77,  85,  87,  91. 

Delaware,  145. 

Des  Moines,  7. 

Frazer,  156. 

Grand,  3. 

James,  44,  85,  102,  104,  106,  109. 

Matapony,  78. 

Missouri,  3. 

Pamunkey,  78. 

Piankatank,  82. 

Platte,  2. 

Potomac,  16,  19,  20,  27,  41,  45,  50,  59. 

Rapidan,  45,  85,  87. 


INDEX 


191 


Rivers — Continued 

Red,  33. 

Rio  Grande,  150. 
Schuylkill,  119. 
South  Platte,  2. 
Susquehanna,  119,  132. 
Swatara,  119,  120. 
Swift  Creek,  106,  107. 
Thompson,  156. 
Willamette,  157. 
York,  43,  77,  78,  85. 

Unclassified 

Anchylosis,  arm  joints,  39. 
Anthacite  coal  trade,  133. 
Bilious  fever,  43. 
'Calls,'  130. 

Carpet-bag  domination,  142,  143. 
'Corners,'  129,  130,  131. 
Corruption,  inefficiency,  75,  195. 
Ships,  Corsica,  Steam  Ship,  141. 
Democratic  Party,  10. 
Fear,  effect  on  negro,  53. 
Federal  Government,  12. 
Fever,  every  variety,  102,  106. 
Grant  Administration,  143. 


Horse  fight,  3. 

House  of  Lords,  England,  101. 

Indian  grants,  117. 

Inefficiency,  corruption,  95. 

Legal  Tender  Act,  118,  128. 

Lipau  Indians,  3. 

Malarial  fever,  43,  102. 

National  Bank  System,  8. 

Peace,  A  possible  World's,  137. 

Personal  independence,  128. 

Republican  Party,  10. 

Riots,  Labor,  146. 

Senate,  9,  26,  35. 

Sisters  of  Charity,  43. 

Soldiers'  vote,  126. 

Stock  gambling,  129. 

Stock  operators,  129. 

'Street,'  130. 

Suffrage,  148. 

Superintendent  of  Negro  Affairs,  97. 

Sword,  General  officer's,  73. 

Typhoid  fever,  43. 

Wedding  of  Gen.  Wistar,  44. 

Whig  Party,  10. 

'Wildcat'  Banks,  8. 

Wistar  Committee,  151. 


CAIT^ORNM   '  '  Y 


<»SA 

*.4 


CASE 
1 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARf «  • 


